DEC-  n  1913 

.Gc3H5 


Rev.  J.  P.  Hentz,  D.  D. 


V 
DEC  2  9  191J 


1  /  r 


/^  {  f>  I 


iS'c^ 


HISTORY  OF  THE 
T.UTHERAS   VER- 
SION OF  THE  BIBLE 

Rev.  John  P.  Hentz,  D.D. 

Author    of 

**Way  Marks,"    "Lutheran  Church 

in    Germantown,    Ohio," 

"Twin  Valley," 

etc. 

Dayton,   Ohio 

Columbus,   Ohio 

The  F.  J.  Heer  Printing  Co. 

1910 

DePfcatton 

This  volume  is  dedicated 
by  its  author  to  his  life- 
long  and  ever  true  friend, 
the  distinguished  Chris- 
tian scholar  and  faithful 
laborer  in  our  Divine 
Master's    vineyard,  the 


without  whose  unwearied 
and  benevolent  efforts  this 
book  would  perhaps  never 
have  been  published,  at 
least  not  at  this  particu- 
lar time  and  in  its  pres- 
ent attractive  form. 


Contents^ 

Page 

Preface ^11 

Introduction lS-29 

Chapter  I.  Martin  Luther  —  Luther's  Activ- 
ity and  Versatility  —  Luther's  Doc- 
trines       31-o4 

Chapter  IL    The  Bible 55-60 

Chapter  IIL  Early  Translations  —  The  Sep- 
tuagint — The  Vetus  Latina — The   Itala 

—The   Latin  Vulgate 61-76 

Chapter  IV.      The    Gothic    Translation.     .     .       77-83 
Chapter   V,      Some    Ancient    Versions — Early 

German  Efforts  —  Papal  Disfavor.  .  84-91 
Chapter  VI.  Writing  and  Printing.  .  .  .  92-96 
Chapter  VIL  The  Lutheran  Version  —  Luth- 
er's Qualifications  —  Progress  of  Luth- 
er's Version  —  Collegium  Publicum  — 
Editions  and  Recensions  —  Success  of 
Luther's  Bible  —  Roman  Efforts  at 
Translating  —  Critical  Estimate  of 
Luther's  Version  —  The  Texts  used  by 
Luther  —  The  Complutensian  Bible  — 
The  German  Rendering  —  The  Prot- 
estant Spirit  of  Luther's  Version  — 
The  Papist's  Reply  to  Luther— Sale 
of  Luther's  New  Testament  —  Luther 
on  the  Epistle  of  St.  James.     .      .     .     97-132 

(5) 


6  Contents. 

Page 

Chapter  VIII.     The  Canstein  Bible  Institute.   133-138 

Chapter  IX.  Revision  of  the  Lutheran  Ver- 
sion    139-148 

Chapter  X.  Luther's  Defense  of  his  Transla- 
tion —  Luther's  Letter  to  Wenceslaus 
Link 149-172 

Chapter  XI.  Testimonials  to  the  Merit  of 
Luther's       Version  —  Krauth  —  Jacob's 

—  Spaeth's  —  D'Aubigne  —  Dollinger 

—  Monroe  —  Hedge  —  Imes  —  Lind- 
say —  Jacob  Grim  —  Heine  —  Willi- 

bald  Grim 173-192 

Chapter  XII.  The  English  Version  —  Primi- 
tive English  Version  —  Modern  Ver- 
sion —  The  Wycliffe  Bible  —  The  Tyn- 
dale  Bible  —  The  Coverdale  Bible  — 
The  Thomas  Mathewes  Bible  —  The 
Great  Bible  —  The  Taverners  Bible  — 
The  Genevan  Bible  —  The  Bishop's 
Bible  —  The  Authorized  Version  —  The 
Revised  Version  of  England  —  The 
Revised  Version  of  America.     .  .   193-219 


Illuetrattone. 

Page 

1.  Portrait  J.  P.  Hentz.  D.  D.,  Frontispiece. 

2.  Wartburg ^^"^^ 

3.  Wittenberg ^^"^^ 

4.  Martin  Luther ^^"^^ 

5.  LUTHERHOUSE      IN      ElSENACH 32-33 

6.  Melanchthon    Assisting   Luther.      .     •      42-43 

^  -14—45 

7.  CoBURG  Castle tt-^t^ 

8.  Luther   Reading   to    the   Elector.     .     .      66-67 

9.  Luther    Finding    the    Bible.     ....   100-101 

10.  Collegium    Publicum 104-105 

11.  Lutherhouse  in  Wittenberg 116-117 

12.  Carl  R.  von  Canstein 132-133 

18.  Melanchthon    (Portrait) 172-173 

14.  Wycliffe  (Portrait) 196-197 

15.  Tyndale  (Portrait) 204-205 

(7) 


PREFACE. 

This  little  volume  makes  no  preten- 
sions to  profound  erudition,  critical  ac- 
umen or  eloquent  diction.  It  simply  tells 
in  plain  and  unadorned  language  the 
story  of  Luther's  translation  of  the 
Bible.  Prepared  with  a  special  view  to 
the  use  and  information  of  people  of 
average  intelligence,  such  as  can  be 
found  among  the  men  and  women  of 
most  any  well  conducted  Christian 
household,  all  learned  and  critical  dis- 
cussions have  been  excluded  from  its 
pages. 

In  the  land  and  in  the  language  of 
Luther  some  well  executed  treatises 
have  appeared  on  the  subject  of  Lu- 
ther's Bible;  but  as  far  as  they  have 
come  to  our  notice,  they  are  without  a 
single  exception  written  in  a  style  too 
lofty  and  too  abstruse  to  be  adapted  to 
the  capacity  of  the  humbler  class  of 


10  Preface. 

readers.  Among  us,  and  in  the  En- 
glish language,  all  that  we  have  on  the 
subject,  is  found  in.  fragments  only, 
scattered  through  many  volumes.  This 
treatise  of  ours,  as  far  as  we  know,  is 
the  first  attempt  to  present  the  subject 
matter  in  connected  form  and  to  bring 
it  within  the  easy  comprehension  of 
plain  readers.  The  book,  therefore,  we 
are  inclined  to  think,  will  fill  a  place 
hitherto  unoccupied.  This,  in  addition 
to  the  fact  that  the  subject  is  one  of 
interest  and  importance  and  is  deserv- 
ing of  our  thoughtful  consideration,  is 
the  apology  which  we  have  to  offer  for 
adding  another  to  the  many  literary 
productions  of  our  day. 

The  histories  of  translations  made  be- 
fore and  after  that  of  Luther,  and  with 
which  the  latter  stands  intimately  con- 
nected, have  been  added  with  the  object 
of  making  the  account  fuller,  more  com- 
plete and  more  intelligible  than  could 
otherwise  have  been  done. 


Preface.  ]  1 

It  behooves  us  to  add  further,  that  in 
our  efforts  to  gather  the  material  for 
this  brief  and  humble  treatise,  we  have 
had  recourse  to  the  following  learned 
authors  and  have  gleaned  from  their 
writings  much  valuable  information, 
viz:  The  Rev.  Henry  Eyster  Jacobs, 
D.  D.,  LL.  D.,  of  the  Mt.  Airy  Lutheran 
Seminary,  Philadelphia,  Pennsylvania; 
the  Rev.  William  J.  Mann,  D.  D.,  of  the 
same  institution;  the  Rev.  Philip 
Schaff,  D.  D.,  of  the  Union  Theological 
Seminary,  New  York  City;  the  Rev. 
Wilibald  Grimm,  D.  D.,  of  Jena  Uni- 
versity, Germany,  and  a  few  others  of 
equal  distinction  and  prominence  in  the 
literary  world. 

This  hiunble  production  is  sent  forth 
on  its  friendly  errand,  in  the  hope  and 
with  the  earnest  prayer  that  it  may 
prove  pleasing  and  profitable  to  all  its 
readers. 

J.  P.  H. 

Dajrfcon,  Ohio. 


< 

H 
M 

H 

w 

H 

a 

H 

<: 

Vi 

<    CM 

H 

w 

« 

« 

M 
H 


W 

hrl 
Ml 


INTRODUCTION. 


The  Protestant  world  is  greatly  in- 
debted to  the  Reformation  of  the  16th 
century  for  many  of  the  choicest  bless- 
ings in  which  she  is  now  rejoicing.  It 
has  delivered  her  from  the  tyranny  and 
oppression  of  an  arrogant  and  corrupt 
priesthood;  from  the  idolatry  of  saint, 
relic  and  image  worship;  from  the  su- 
perstitious fear  of  purgatory,  and  from 
the  false  doctrine  of  justification  from 
sin  by  self-wrought  human  works.  It 
has  secured  for  us  pure  sacraments, 
and  that  freedom  of  thought  and  con- 
science, that  has  become  the  creative 
and  impellmg  cause  of  our  modern 
spirit  of  inquiry  and  research;  has 
brought  about  the  present  advancement 
of  commerce  and  industry,  of  true 
science  and  the  useful  arts;  and  has 
been  the  chief  agent  in  the  social  and 

13 


14  Introduction. 

moral  elevation  of  the  masses  of  our 
day.  But  of  all  its  marvelous  and 
blessed  fruits,  Luther's  translation  of 
the  Bible  stands  pre-eminent  as  one  of 
the  greatest  and  the  best. 

Luther  began  his  work  of  translating 
the  Holy  Bible  during  the  time  of  his 
imprisonment  in  the  Wartburg.  To 
this  place  the  Elector  Frederick,  his 
friend  and  protector,  had  secretly 
caused  him  to  be  conveyed,  having  made 
him  a  captive  Avhile  on  his  return  jour- 
ney from  the  Diet  of  Worms,  that  here 
he  might  rest  safe  from  the  wrath  and 
vengeance  of  the  pope  and  his  zealous 
adherents.  Here,  in  his  captivity  a^^d 
isolation,  he  had  leisure  for  literary  la- 
bor. How  was  he  to  employ  this  idle 
time?  What  was  he  to  undertake,  as 
of  first  and  greatest  importance  to  the 
cause  of  God  and  the  spiritual  well- 
being  of  man  ?  These  were  his  thoughts 
as  he  sat  meditating  in  his  secluded 
room  in  Wartburg  Castle.    Total  inac- 


Introduction.  1 5 

tivity  was  with  him  at  any  time,  but 
especially  so  now,  in  the  stirring  events 
transpiring,  a  matter  utterly  out  of 
question.  To  his  active,  busy  spirit 
nothing  could  prove  more  irksome  and 
unendurable  than  to  be  totally  excluded 
from  participation  in  the  reformatory 
movement,  which  had  been  so  auspic- 
iously inaugurated.  His  soul  was  ani- 
mated with  a  fiery  zeal,  for  the  honor 
of  God  and  the  salvation  of  his  fellow- 
men,  that  would  not  suffer  him  to  waste 
one  moment  in  idleness.  While  thus 
situated,  and  while  in  this  state  of  mind, 
his  thoughts  went  back  to  the  time, 
when  in  the  universitv  librarv  at  Er- 
f urt,  he  had  discovered  a  Latin  copy  of 
the  Holy  Scriptures.  He  recalled  to 
mind  how,  by  the  reading  of  this  best 
of  all  books,  divine  light  had  dawned 
upon  his  benighted  soul,  and  how,  from 
its  contents,  he  had  learned  to  know 
the  way  of  life  through  faith  in  Jesus 
Christ.    After  a  long  and  painful  strug- 


16  Introduction. 

gie  with  an  awakened  and  an  accusing 
conscience,  the  Holy  Word  had  brought 
peace  to  his  troubled  soul.  Through  its 
reading  he  had  been  made  to  feel  the 
sweetness  of  sins  forgiven,  and  the 
peace  of  reconciliation  with  an  offended 
God.  By  recollections  and  reflections 
like  these,  he  felt  himself  moved  to 
place  the  precious  treasure  of  the  Di- 
vine Word  in  the  hands  of  the  German 
people  in  their  own  native  tongue.  For 
hitherto,  no  readable  and  true  transla- 
tion had  been  offered  them.  Some 
translations,  it  is  true,  had  been  made. 
A  distinguished  writer  counts  no  less 
than  fifteen  of  thenj,  dating  back  to  the 
time  of  Luther,  and  says  of  them  all: 
^^They  had  a  common  character,  which 
may  be  expressed  in  a  word— they  were 
abominable.''  Priests  and  people  w^ere 
alike  ignorant  of  God's  truth  and  the 
way  to  salvation.  Luther  longed  most 
earnestly  to  see  a  clearer  and  fuller 
knowledge   and  a  better  and  happier 


Introduction.  1 7 

spiritual  life  prevailing  among  his 
well-loved  German  countrymen,  than 
was  the  case  now.  He  was  therefore 
thoroughly  convinced  that  for  the  ac- 
complishment of  this  object,  God's 
Word  must  be  employed  as  the  instru- 
ment. In  the  Holy  Scriptures  he  recog- 
nized the  germ  and  seed  from  which 
must  come  forth  the  spiritual  regener- 
ation and  life  of  the  German  nation. 

To  plant  this  seed  in  their  hearts,  to 
place  in  their  hands  the  Revealed  Word, 
that  therein  they  might  find  the  way  to 
God  and  heaven— this  he  felt  himself 
called  to  do,  this  he  recognized  as  his 
divinely  imposed  task  here  in  his  lone 
confinement. 

It  was  on  the  first  day  of  November, 
1521,  that  he  entered  upon  the  work  of 
translating  the  New  Testament,  and 
with  such  vigor  and  industry  did  he 
prosecute  his  chosen  task,  that  by  the 
following  February  after  a  brief  space 
of  three  months,  every  portion  of  this 


1 8  Introduction. 

part  of  the  Bible  was  rendered  into 
pure  and  lucid  German. 

Soon  after  this  he  undertook  and  ac- 
tively entered  upon,  the  more  extended 
and  difficult  task  of  translating  the  Old 
Testament.  On  his  return  from  the 
Wartburg  to  Wittenberg  he  continued 
the  work  begun,  and  such  were,  again, 
the  energy  and  persevering  application 
with  which  he  threw  himself  upon  his 
labor,  that  by  the  year  1533  the  wonder- 
ful and  immortal  work  was  completed. 
Twelve  years  did  he  spend  upon  the 
translation,  amid  various  interruptions, 
and  a  multitude  of  other  duties.  There 
were  friends  and  helpers  who  aided  him 
by  their  own  investigations  and  coun- 
sels, but  the  main  burden  of  the  work 
lested  on  him.  The  translation  is  em- 
phatically his  own.  Untold  labor  and 
imwearied  patience  were  required  in 
its  execution.  Sometimes  he  was  occu- 
pied a  fortnight  upon  a  single  passage. 
That  he  might   always  hit  upon  the 


r 
c 

H 

K 
w 

H 
PI 


Introduction.  19 

proper  word,  to  express  most  correctly 
the  sense  of  the  original,  he  would  go 
out  upon  the  highways  and  fields,  enter 
the  workshops  and  slaughterhouses,  and 
there  converse  with  the  people,  inquire 
their  names  of  things,  and  listen  to  their 
manner  of  speech.  It  was  in  this  way 
and  by  this  means,  that  he  gathered  in- 
formation by  which  he  was  enabled  to 
bring  forth  a  version  that  spoke  the 
language  of  his  German  countrym^en  in 
a  manner  which  was  intelligible  to  all, 
and  at  the  same  time  conformed  most 
closely  to  the  sense  and  meaning  of  the 
original.  But  even  after  having  gone 
to  all  this  immense  trouble,  and  after 
his  work  seemed  done  to  perfection,  he 
was  not  satisfied  to  rest  from  his  labor. 
He  made  his  Bible  the  work  of  his  life, 
esteeming  it  evidently  the  most  impor- 
tant of  all  he  ever  attempted.  For  many 
years,  to  even  almost  the  end  of  his 
days,  he  continued  to  make  changes  and 
improvements   in   it,   until   at  last   it 


20  Introduction. 

stood  forth  a  finished  and  perfect  mas- 
terwork.  It  was  a  work  not  only  per- 
fect in  itself,  but  a  work  also  by  which 
he  had  new  created  and  perfected  the 
German  language.  ^^The  language  of 
Germany  has  grown  since  Luther,  but 
it  has  had  no  new  creation.  He  Avho 
takes  up  Luther's  Bible  grasps  a  whole 
world  in  his  hand,  a  world  which  will 
perish  only,  when  this  green  earth  it- 
self shall  pass  away.''  Thus  speaks  of 
this  wonderful  translation,  one  who  is 
counted  among  the  most  eminent  sages 
of  our  age  and  country. 

That  Luther  had  not  labored  in  be- 
half of  an  ungrateful  people,  was  evi- 
denced by  the  eagerness  with  which  all 
held  out  the  hand  to  receive  Luther's 
Bible.  There  was  a  perfect  crowding 
and  scrambling  for  the  new  translation. 
The  first  edition  of  the  New  Testament, 
consisting  of  3,000  copies  was  sold  in 
less  than  three  months.  Edition  fol- 
lowed edition,  until  by  the  year  1533  the 


introduction.  21 

number  of  copies  sold,  ran  up  into  the 
hundred  thousands.  The  people  read  it 
while  at  their  work.  It  was,  on  all  oc- 
casions and  at  all  places,  the  absorbing 
subject  of  their  thoughts,  and  the  chief 
theme  of  their  conversation.  Women 
and  children  even  read  and  re-read  it, 
until  they  had  committed  its  contents  to 
memory.  No  book  ever  enjoyed  a  popu- 
larity so  widespread,  or  wrought  im- 
pressions so  deep  and  so  enduring. 
There  had  arisen  in  Germany  a  desire 
for  the  Gospel,  and  especially  for  the 
Gospel  in  Luther's  language,  that  noth- 
ing on  earth  was  able  to  suppress  or  to 
arrest.  The  chief  cause  of  this  was,  the 
re-awakened  and  quickened  conscious- 
ness of  the  need  of  redemption  and  for- 
giveness through  Jesus  Christ.  This 
conscious  need  could  be  satisfied  by 
nothing  else  but  the  reading  and  hear- 
ing of  the  gracious  Word  of  God.  Since 
Luther  gave  his  translation  to  the  Ger- 
man people,  many  and  great  changes 


22  introduction. 

have  taken  place.  Manners,  customs, 
laws,  governments,  pursuits  and 
sciences  have  undergone  changes,  and 
with  them  has  changed  the  German 
language.  Attempts  have  accordingly 
been  miade  to  so  alter  and  improve  Lu- 
ther's Bible  as  to  conform  its  structure 
and  words  to  these  changes;  but  such 
is  the  love  and  veneration  which  the 
German  people  cherish  for  the  unal- 
tered Bible  of  Luther,  that  they  will 
have  no  other.  They  reject  every  re- 
vision as  an  ii^everent  innovation.  Af- 
ter a  trial  of  350  years  Luther's  Bible 
still  retains  the  warmest  place  in  their 
hearts.  The  Germans  are  not  all  Luth- 
erans. They  di:ffer  on  the  subject  of 
religion.  In  our  country  they  are  found 
dispersed  among  all  the  numerous  sects 
that  have  struck  root  into  our  soil.  But 
however  widely  they  may  di:ffer  in  their 
doctrinal  viev/s  and  teachings,  on  one 
thing  they  are  harmonious  and  united. 
All  make  use  of  the  Lutheran  Bible, 


Introduction.  23 

and  all  profess  to  cherish  for  it  equal 
love  and  reverence.  An  English  Bap- 
tist may  reject  the  authorized  English 
version,  but  a  German,  be  he  Baptist 
or  anything  else,  unreservedly  endorses 
Luther's  translation  and  unhesitatingly 
employs  it  in  public  and  private  wor- 
ship. Luther's  Bible  formes  a  bond  of 
union,  strong  and  indissoluble,  between 
all  German  speaking  tribes  and  nations 
of  the  Protestant  faith,  wherever  dis- 
persed throughout  the  wide  world. 

Luther  was  a  German  in  the  fullest 
sense  of  the  term,  and  has  impressed  on 
his  work  the  stamp  of  his  own  German 
spirit  and  character.  The  book,  upon 
every  page,  exhibits  the  depth  and  the 
sincerity  of  the  feeling,  the  simplicity 
and  joyousness  of  the  faith,  and  the 
pious  sentiment  and  chaste  imagina- 
tion, characteristic  of  the  German  peo- 
ple. The  beautiful  German  language, 
so  graceful,  so  pliable  and  so  plastic,  so 
rich   and   so   suggestive,   no   one   ever 


24  Introduction. 

knew  how  to  touch  and  how  to  handle, 
with  the  skill  of  a  master  hand,  as  did 
Luther.  He  was  master  of  all  its  treas- 
ures, its  ruggedness  and  its  tenderness, 
its  fullness  and  its  simplicity,  its 
strength  and  its  depth.  Even  his  ad- 
versaries and  opposers  concede  this 
fact  and  admire  and  praise  his  w^ork. 
By  his  translation  of  the  Holy  Scrip- 
tures Luther  has  become  the  father  and 
creator  of  the  modern  German  language. 
He  has  reconstructed,  enlarged  and  im- 
proved it  to  an  extent  that  makes  it  a 
new  language.  By  doing  so  he  has  ren- 
dered the  German  nation  a  service, 
which  merits  their  everlasting  grati- 
tude. 

But  •  the  greatest  obligation,  under 
which  Luther  has  laid  his  nation,  does 
not  arise  from  his  improvement  of  their 
language,  but  from  the  accuracy  of  his 
translation,  as  regards  sense  and 
thought.  So  pure  and  so  faithful,  so 
correct  and  so  faultless,  so  clear  and  so 


Introduction.  25 

plain  and  so  fully  conformed  to  the 
Holy  Spirit,  is  his  rendering,  that  it 
makes  its  way  directly  to  mind  and 
heart.  Our  English  version,  in  many 
instances,  conforms  more  to  the  letter 
than  the  sense,  more  to  the  form  than 
to  the  substance,  of  the  original.  It  is 
too  severely  verbal  and  literal,  and  re- 
tains too  much  of  the  foreign  idiom. 
Hence  many  of  its  passages  are  render- 
ed unnecessarily  obscure  and  awkward. 
Luther  was  less  concerned  about  form 
and  more  about  substance.  He  seized 
upon  the  sense  and  gave  it  in  plain  and 
intelligible  German,  in  such  form  and 
order  as  he  deemed  best  adapted  to  the 
purpose.  He  was  a  man  of  sincere  and 
fervent  piety,  lived  in  close  connnunion 
with  the  Savior,  and  was  gifted  with  a 
profound  insight  into  the  deep  things  of 
God.  With  clear  vision  he  penetrated 
divine  mysteries  to  their  profoundest 
depth.  To  him  it  was  given,  as  to  no 
uninspired  man  before  him,  to  bring  to 


26  Introduction. 

full  light  of  day  the  hidden  treasures 
of  God's  Word.  This  gift  was  not  an 
accident.  God  had  chosen  and  ordained 
him  for  this  peculiar  work,  and  had 
qualified  him  for  it,  both  by  education 
and  by  endowing  him  with  needful  tal- 
tnts.  It  was  by  means  of  the  firm  and 
fervid  faith  which  the  Spirit  had 
wrought  in  him,  by  means  of  the  ardent 
love  for  the  Redeemer  which  had  come 
to  him  from  above,  and  by  means  of  the 
light  and  guidance  of  the  Holy  Ghost, 
that  he  was  enabled  to  open  to  his  peo- 
ple the  long  closed  and  sealed  up  sacred 
treasure,  and  to  give  it  a  true  and  prop- 
er form. 

These  are  the  reasons  that  account 
for  the  fact,  that  in  Luther's  day,  his 
Bible  was  received  with  so  much  open- 
ness of  hand  and  so  much  gladness  of 
heart,  and  that  our  fathers  clung  to  it 
with  so  much  ardor  of  affection.  At 
no  price  were  they  willing  to  part  with 
the   sacred   treasure.     Luther's   Bible 


introduction.  27 

contributed  more  than  all  else  to  the 
furtherance  and  success  of  the  Refor- 
mation. It  laid  a  sure  and  safe  founda- 
tion for  the  superstructure  of  the  re- 
newed and  purified  church  of  Christ. 
It  awakened  and  produced  a  reforma- 
tion of  individual  souls,  and  with  that 
of  the  church  as  a  collective  bodv.  This 
tree  of  life,  of  faith  and  of  hope,  has 
now  endured  for  near  four  hundred 
years,  it  has  ever  risen  higher  and  ex- 
tended wider,  mitil  now  other  countries 
are  gathered  under  its  branches  and 
other  nations  recline  under  its  shadow. 
Germans  are  a  wandering  people,  a  cos- 
mopolitan nation.  They  are  found  dis- 
jDersed  over  all  parts  of  the  habitable 
earth.  But  wherever  their  migrations 
lead  them,  thither  they  carry  with  them 
their  Lutheran  Bible.  The  precious 
Book  is  their  companion  at  home  and 
abroad,  on  seas  and  on  land,  in  good 
and  in  evil  days. 

Vast  and  marvelous  have  been  the 


28  introduction. 

changes  that  have  occurred  during  the 
last  300  years.  Many  a  work,  once  the 
admiration  of  the  world,  has  fallen  into 
neglect  and  decay  and  crumbled  into 
dust  and  ashes.  No  such  fate  has  he- 
fallen  the  work  wrought  by  Luther. 
Amidst  change  and  death  on  all  sides, 
his  Bible,  by  God's  gracious  providence, 
has  been  preserved  to  us  unharmed  and 
undeiiled  to  this  day.  We  are  the  sons 
of  the  sires  of  the  Reformation;  to  us 
Luther's  Bible  has  come  as  an  mheri- 
tance  and  a  legacy,  a  legacy  worthy  of 
our  most  earnest  love  and  deserving  of 
our  highest  veneration.  To  think  light- 
ly of  it  would  be  to  degrade  ourselves. 
To  neglect  itwould  be  to  harm  ourselves. 
For  the  sake  of  our  Lutheran  Bible,  it 
seems  to  us,  we  ought  to  seek  to  keep 
alive  as  long  as  possible,  and  extend 
and  spread  as  far  as  opportunity  offers, 
the  language  of  the  Fatherland,  of  Lu- 
ther, and  of  Luther's  Bible.  It  seems 
to  us  that  every  Lutheran  theologian,  at 


Introduction.  29 

least,  should  feel  himself  moved  to  read 
and  imder stand  God's  holv,  sanctifying 
and  saving  Word,  in  the  language  of 
the  world's  greatest  reformer.  God's 
Word  is  precious,  very  precious,  not 
only  in  the  German,  but  equally  in 
every  other  language.  May  its  divine 
precepts  and  heaven-born  doctrines  be- 
come ever  more  the  rule  of  men's  faith 
and  the  guide  of  their  lives.  May  it  be- 
come the  aim  of  all,  diligently,  day  by 
day,  to  search  the  Scriptures;  and  by 
personal  experience  may  they  find  that 
therein  they  have  eternal  life. 

It  is  this  translation  and  others  more 
or  less  intimately  connected  with  it,  of 
which  we  propose  to  treat  in  the  follow- 
ing pages. 


Martin  Luther. 


CHAPTER  L 


MARTIN  LUTHER. 

Luther  was  born  November  10,  1483, 
in  the  town  of  Eisleben,  Saxony.  His 
parents  were  John  and  Margaret  Luth- 
er. They  were  poor  but  intelligent  and 
respectable  people  of  the  more  well-to- 
do  and  better  sort  of  the  German  Peas- 
antry. The  father  was  a  miner  by  oc- 
cupation, who,  by  his  own  industr}^  and 
the  assistance  of  his  diligent  and  frugal 
housewife,  by  degrees  acquired  a  con- 
siderable amount  of  property  and 
raised  himself  to  an  honored  social  po- 
sition amiong  his  fellow-townsmen.  Ac- 
cordmg  to  the  Reformer's  own  state- 
ment, all  his  ancestors  were  peasants. 
Both  parents  were  strict  disciplinar- 
ians, and  in  true  German  fashion,  were 
not  sparing  of  the  rod  in  the  training 

31 


32  History  of  the 

of  their  son.  The  boy,  Martin,  even  in 
his  early  childhood,  exhibited  signs  of 
unusual  intellectual  talents.  For  this 
reason  his  father  destined  him  for  pro- 
fessional life,  in  the  sphere  of  the  civil 
law.  Having  removed  from  Eisleben 
to  Mansfeld,  the  parents  here  sent  the 
boy  to  the  public  school  so  early  that  he 
often  had  to  be  carried  in  the  arms  of 
friends  to  reach  the  schoolhouse.  In 
1497,  at  the  age  of  fourteen,  he  was  sent 
to  a  higher  institution  in  the  city  of 
Madgeburg,  where,  however,  he  remain- 
ed but  one  year,  at  the  expiration  of 
which  time,  he  was  transferred  to  Eis- 
enach. At  this  place  he  continued  four 
years  engaged  in  most  diligent  and  un- 
interrupted study.  At  this  time  his 
father  was  still  unable  to  give  the  boy 
more  than  a  mere  pittance  of  pecuniary 
assistance.  The  son,  therefore,  was  un- 
der necessity  of  having  recourse  to  a 
practice,  then  prevalent  among  impe- 
cimious  youths  in  institutions  of  learn- 


Luther  House  (The  Cotta  Residence)   in  Eisenach. 


Lutheran  Version  of  the  Bible.       33 

ing,  to  sing  from  door  to  door  of  the 
citizens  for  the  necessaries  of  life.  The 
boys  would  club  together  and  thus  pass 
through  the  town  from  day  to  day. 
They  would  also  visit  neighboring  vil- 
lages on  their  piteous  errand.  By  this 
means  it  happened  that  the  young  Mar- 
tin attracted  the  notice  of  good  Frau 
Cotta  of  Eisenach.  It  was  his  sweet 
voice,  his  devout  manner  and  his  pleas- 
ant and  intelligent  countenance  that 
won  him  the  kind  heart  of  this  noble 
lady.  She  received  him  into  her  own 
home  and  treated  him  as  she  did  her 
own  children.  Here  all  his  wants  were 
abundantly  supplied,  and  he  enjoyed 
the  advantages  of  Christian  influence 
and  of  cultivated  and  refined  societv. 
The  impressions  he  here  received  had  a 
most  salutary  effect  on  his  entire  after- 
life. Nor  can  we  doubt  that  he  was 
guided  to  this  home  by  the  directing 
hand  of  an  Allwise  and  Beneficent 
Providence. 


34  History  of  the 

In  1501,  at  the  age  of  eighteen  years, 
he  left  Eisenach  and  went  to  Erfurt, 
where  he  entered  the  university  of  that 
city,  which  vv^as  then  the  most  celebrated 
of  the  learned  institutions  of  Germany. 
Here  he  devoted  himself  assiduously  to 
philosophy  and  the  study  of  the  classics. 
He  also  gave  attention  to  the  natural 
sciences,  as  far  as  they  were  then 
taught.  One  of  his  favorite  pursuits 
now,  as  it  had  been  before,  was  his  prac- 
tice of  music.  To  this  he  gave  his  leis- 
ure hours.  Indeed  it  seems  to  have  been 
his  sole  recreation.  Music  was  to  him 
an  accomplishment  and  an  art  which  he 
never  ceased  to  love  to  the  end  of  his 
days.  In  1502  he  took  his  first  degree, 
and  in  1505  his  second,  or  master's  de- 
gree. He  was  then  in  his  22nd  year. 
He  now  took  up  the  law,  not  so  much 
from  personal  choice  and  inclination, 
as  from  obedience  to  his  father's  wish. 
But  his  studies  in  this  department  were 
unexpectedly  interrupted,  or  rather  en- 


Lutheran  Version  of  the  Bible.       36 

tirely  broken  off,  by  a  change  in  his 
inner  religious  life.  As  a  consequence, 
he  felt  himself  induced,  without  the 
knowledge  and  consent  of  his  father,  to 
enter  the  Augustinian  Monastery  of  Er- 
furt in  July,  1505.  Here  he  distin- 
guished himself  by  further  diligent 
study,  and  the  severest  ascetic  practices. 
He  had  become  conscious  of  his  sinful 
and  lost  condition,  and  had  sought  but 
not  found  peace  of  soul  by  his  own  mi- 
aided  efforts.  By  the  advice  of  the 
pious  Vicar  General  Staupitz  he  was 
led  to  the  study  of  the  Holy  Scriptures, 
and  the  writings  of  the  ancient  Church 
Fathers,  especially  those  of  St.  Augus- 
tine. In  this  pursuit,  after  a  long  and 
painful  struggle,  by  the  aid  of  Divine 
grace,  he  finally  attained  to  peace  of 
conscience,  through  faith  in  Jesus 
Christ  as  the  only  Mediator  and  Sav- 
iour of  sinful  man. 

In  1507  he  was  ordained  a  priest,  and, 
owing  to  a  sense  of  his  unworthiness. 


36  History  of  the 

much  against  his  own  inclination.  The 
next  year,  in  1508,  at  the  age  of  25,  he 
was  called  to  a  professorship  in  the  re- 
cently established  University  of  Wit- 
tenberg, where  at  first  he  taught  philos- 
ophy, and  later  Scriptural  Theology.  In 
1511  he  was  sent  to  Rome  in  the  interest 
of  his  own  monastic  order,  but  remained 
there  but  one  month.  He  remained  long 
enough,  however,  to  witness  in  all  their 
hideous  reality,  the  levity  and  immoral- 
ity w^hich  prevailed  at  the  papal  court 
and  which  pained  and  distressed,  be- 
yond measure,  his  pure  and  virtuous 
soul. 

In  1512  he  was  made  a  doctor  of  di- 
vinity, which  at  that  time  was  not,  as  it 
is  now,  a  meaningless  title  of  honor,  but 
the  designation  of  a  teacher  of  theology. 
Luther,  instead  of  lecturing  on  the  pe- 
culiar theology  of  the  age,  which  w^as 
an  unedifying  and  mystical  scholastic- 
ism, began  and  continued  by  expound- 
ing the   Holy   Scriptures,   an   entirely 


Lutheran  Version  of  the  Bible.       37 

new  mode,  which  soon  gained  him  a  na- 
tional reputation,  and  attracted  stu- 
dents from  far  and  near.  In  1515  he 
was  appointed  provincial  vicar  of  his 
monastic  order,  ja  position  which  re- 
quired him  to  oversee  eleven  convents 
and  to  perform  the  customary  visita- 
tions, quite  a  burdensome  vocation. 
From  this  office,  however,  he  was  soon 
again  suffered  to  retire. 

About  this  time  also,  i.  e.,  in  1512,  his 
reading  brought  him  under  the  influ- 
ence of  the  writings  of  some  of  the  so- 
called  Mystics,  such  as  John  Tauler, 
Thomas  A.  Kempis  and  others,  v/hich 
produced  a  powerful  effect  on  his  views 
and  on  his  whole  after-life. 

In  1517  events  transpired  which  led 
him  in  open  conflict  with  the  ecclesias- 
tical authorities.  The  Dominican  Monk 
Tetzel  came  to  Yuterbock,  a  town  on 
the  borders  of  Saxony  and  near  Wit- 
tenberg, to  push  the  sale  of  indulgences. 
Indulgences    are    written    certificates. 


38  History  of  the 

granting  forgiveness  of  sin  for  the  pay- 
ment of  money,  and  are  issued  in  the 
name  and  by  the  authority  of  the  Pope. 
This  was  a  scandalous  proceeding  and 
producd  a  most  demoralizing  effect.  If 
forgiveness  could  be  purchased  vdth 
money,  sin  and  crime  might  be  commit- 
ted without  fear  or  hesitation.  The 
criminal  law  of  the  land  became  a  nul- 
lity, and  all  civil  authority  was  set  at 
defiance.  N'o  one,  neither  God  nor  man, 
but  the  Pope  alone,  need  to  be  feared. 
When  Luther  heard  of  Tetzel's  pro- 
ceedings, his  soul  was  stirred  within 
him  to  its  intensest  indignation.  He 
denomiced  the  nefarious  practice  from 
the  pulpit,  and  this  remaining  fruit- 
less, he  proposed  a  public  discussion  on 
the  subject.  For  this  purpose,  on  Oc- 
tober 31,  1517,  he  nailed  to  the  door  of 
the  Castle  Church  in  Wittenberg  nine- 
ty-five theses,  or  short  sentences,  which 
were  directed  against  the  indulgence 
traffic.    Though  moderate  in  tone,  their 


Lutheran  Version  of  the  Bible.       39 

effect  was  as  unexpected  as  it  was  im- 
portant. In  fourteen  days  they  were 
diffused  throughout  all  Germany,  and 
within  a  month  more  they  were  known 
throughout  all  Europe.  They  were  ap- 
proved by  some  and  condemned  by 
others.  Tetzel  and  his  friends  replied 
by  speech  and  writing,  in  threatening 
and  abusive  language.  Luther  answer- 
ed their  assaults  with  great  mildness 
and  forbearance.  Thus  the  controversy, 
by  which  the  Reformation  was  inaugur- 
ated, took  its  start.  As  it  advanced  and 
grew  in  warmth  and  interest,  Luther's 
m.ind  underwent  a  gradual  change.  His 
eyes  were  opened  to  the  real  character 
of  the  Papacy,  and  he  receded  ever 
further  from,  the  principles  of  the  Ro- 
man Church.  Luther  was  no  radical. 
He  was  by  nature  conservative.  He  was 
not  able  at  once  to  break  with  the  Pope. 
While  contending  against  papal  errors 
he  retained  for  some  time  the  utmost  re- 
gard for  the  Roman  Pontiff.    He  even 


40  History  of  the 

addressed  to  Mm  an  humble  apology 
for  the  agitation  which  he  had  uninten- 
tionally called  forth,  without,  however, 
receding  in  the  least  from  the  position 
which  he  had  assumed. 

Soon  he  was  cited  to  appear  in  Rome 
to  answer  for  his  opposition  to  papal 
authority.  Against  this  the  Saxon 
Elector  earnestly  protested.  He  mis- 
trusted Rome.  He  demanded  that  if 
Luther  must  be  tried,  it  be  done  on  Ger- 
man and  not  Italian  soil.  This  ended 
the  persecution  for  the  time  being.  The 
breach  widened  with  several  discus- 
sions, none  of  which  were  of  Luther's 
seeking.  One  of  these  took  place  in 
Augsburg  in  1518,  and  another  at  Leip- 
sic  in  1519.  Then  came  from  Rome  Lu- 
ther's ex-commimication,  in  which  de- 
struction was  declared  against  his  writ- 
ings, and  death  against  his  person. 
Such  documents  at  that  time  carried 
with  them  an  omnipotent  significance. 
No  earthly  power  had  ever  dared  to 


Lutheran  Version  of  the  Bible.       41 

gainsay  or  resist  them.  But  Luther 
treated  this  one  with  utmost  scorn  and 
contempt.  In  presence  of  his  students 
and  associate  professors,  near  the  Els- 
ter  gate  at  Wittenberg,  he  committed 
the  papal  bull  to  the  flames.  This  was 
a  bold  act  and  required  the  greatest 
courage.  The  defiance  implied  in  it 
aroused  the  fiercest  rage  in  the  Pope 
and  his  adherents.  But  their  anger  was 
powerless,  owing  to  the  protection 
which  the  Elector  extended  to  the  bold 
Reformer  within  his  ov/n  territor}^ 

A  great  national  diet  was  now  an- 
nounced, to  be  held  in  the  city  of 
Worms,  during  the  year  1521.  Luther 
\yas  cited  to  appear  at  this  diet  to  an- 
swer to  the  charges  preferred  against 
him  as  a  teacher  of  heresy  and  an  agi- 
tator of  sedition,  and  he  complied  with 
the  citation.  There  were  present  at  this 
diet,  the  Emperor,  six  electors,  an  Arch- 
duke, twenty-seven  Dukes,  two  Land- 
graves, five  Margraves  and  numerous 


42  History  of  the 

Counts,  archbishops  and  bishops.  The 
galleries,  doors  and  windows  were 
crowded  with  a  promiscuous  multitude. 
The  eyes  of  all  this  vast  assembly  were 
riveted  on  the  Monk  of  Wittenberg  as 
he  entered  the  hall  of  the  diet.  And 
there  in  presence  of  this  august  body, 
Luther  stood  up  to  answer  for  the  faith 
that  v/as  in  him.  It  was  a  spectacle 
and  a  trial  such  as  the  world  as  ever 
witnessed  but  few.  The  date  was  April 
17th  and  18th,  1521,  an  epoch,  we  may 
term  it,  in  the  history  of  the  world.  Lu- 
ther offered  a  courageous  and  eloquent 
defense  of  himself,  his  teachings  and 
his  writings,  maintaining  above  all  the 
God-given  freedom  of  conscience  over 
against  the  tyrannical  pretensions  and 
unholy  usurpations  of  the  Papacy,  and 
ending  with  the  memorable  words: 
''Here  I  stand;  I  cannot  do  otherwise; 
So  help  me  God!'' 

On  his  return  from  Worms,  May  4th, 
1521,  he  was  seized  by  friends  in  dis- 


Lutheran  Version  of  the  Bible.       43 

guise  and  carried  to  the  Wartburg  for 
security,  where  he  employed  his  time  in 
the  preparation  of  various  works  for 
publication,  but  chiefly  in  the  transla- 
tion of  the  New  Testament,  which  he 
finished  before  he  quitted  his  retreat  in 
March,  1522.  During  his  absence  from 
Wittenberg  religious  fanatics  had  come 
to  the  town,  and,  by  their  perverted 
teachings,  had  created  serious  disturb- 
ances. Luther  hastened  to  the  rescue. 
In  a  series  of  sermons,  which  he  deliv- 
ered daily  during  one  entire  Vv^eek,  he 
completely  quelled  the  disturbance. 
This  done,  he  entered  upon  the  revision 
of  his  Nevv^  Testament  translation,  call- 
ing to  his  assistance  Melanchthon  and 
other  scholars  of  the  university  faculty. 
After  this  he  began  his  labors  on  the 
Old  Testament,  which  he  finished  in 
1533. 

From  1522  forward  his  labors  outside 
of  the  university  were  manifold  and 
diversified.     He   answered  the   attack 


44  History  of  the 

made  on  him  by  Henry  VIII  of  En- 
gland, composed  and  published  hymns 
for  public  worship,  some  thirty-six  in 
number,  and  occupied  himself  in  the 
suppression  of  the  Peasant  War  which 
was  being  waged  during  1524  and  1525. 
June  13th,  1525,  at  the  age  of  42  years, 
he  entered  into  marriagel  with  Cath- 
arine Von  Bora,  who  had  previously 
been  a  nun,  and  with  whom  he  lived  in 
happy  union  until  his  death.  In  1527, 
under  the  direction  of  the  Saxon  Elec- 
tor, he  was  engaged  in  visiting  the 
churches  of  the  Electorate.  Discover- 
ing great  ignorance  in  matters  of  relig- 
ion, both  among  clergy  and  laity,  these 
visitations  became  the  occasion  of  new 
works.  He  published  sermons  to  serve 
as  models  to  the  preachers.  He  further 
composed  his  larger  catechism  for  the 
instruction  of  the  youth  in  both  school 
and  home.  But  as  this  was  not  adapted 
to  the  capacity  of  either  parents  or 
children,  he  prepared  for  their  use  the 


CoBURG  Castle,  Where  Luther  Resided  While  the 
Augsburg  Diet  was  Convened  and  Where  He 
Labored  ox  Hts  Traxslattox  of  the  Old  Testa- 
ment, 1530. 


Lutheran  Version  of  the  Bible.       45 

smaller  catechism.  Both  catechisms  ap- 
peared in  print  in  1529.  In  the  same 
year  was  held  a  conference  at  Marburg 
between  the  Lutheran  and  Swiss  Re- 
formers, with  the  object  of  forming  a 
union  btween  them.  This  attempt 
proved  a  failure. 

In  1530,  the  historic  diet  of  Augsburg 
convened,  religiously  the  most  eventful 
during  the  period  of  the  Reformation. 
As  the  papal  ban,  sanctioned  by  the  diet 
of  Worms,  still  hung  suspended  over 
the  head  of  Luther,  his  life  was  not  safe 
outside  the  electoral  dominions.  For 
this  reason  he  did  not  dare  to  appear 
at  Augsburg.  He  came  as  near  to  it, 
however,  as  it  was  safe  for  him  to  do, 
to  the  city  and  castle  of  Coburg.  Here 
he  remained  while  the  diet  was  in  ses- 
sion, and  here  his  friends  found  means 
to  conmiunicate  with  him.  From  this 
place  he  co-operated  with  Melanchthon, 
who  was  in  Augsburg  engaged  in  the 
preparation   of  the  Augsburg  confes- 


46  History  of  the 

sion.  Every  article  of  this  document 
was  laid  before  him,  for  his  correctioii 
and  approval,  mitil  it  was  finished  and 
presented  to  the  Emperor  and  the  diet. 
While  Melanchthon  gave  the  confession 
its  form  and  shape,  and  in  one  sense 
may  be  said  to  be  its  author,  Luther 
furnished  material  and  offered  sugges- 
tions, which  became  substance  and  part 
of  it,  and  therefore,  in  another  sense 
the  latter  may  be  said  to  be  its  author. 
Justice  demands,  however,  that  the  hon- 
or of  its  merits  should  be  shared  equally 
by  both  the  Reformers. 

In  succeeding  years  repeated  negotia- 
tions were  conducted  and  meetings  held 
with  Protestant  divines,  to  compare 
views  and  to  conciliate  divergences,  in 
w^hich  Luther  participated.  One  of 
these  was  that  with  Bucer,  held  at  Wit- 
tenberg in  1536,  in  which  the  latter 
came  to  a  full  agreement  with  the  Lu- 
theran theologians,  from  whom  he  had 
previously  differed.    Another  was  held 


Lutheran  Version  of  the  Bible.       47 

in  the  same  year  also  in  Wittenberg, 
with  the  Anglican  theologians,  Fox, 
Heath  and  Barnes,  which,  while  attain- 
ing no  immediate  results,  greatly  in- 
fluenced the  confession  and  mode  of 
worship  of  the  Anglican  church.  In 
1537  the  Schmalkald  articles  were 
framed,  mainly  by  Luther's  hand. 
These  proved  of  such  a  character  as  for- 
ever to  expel  all  hope  of  reconciliation 
with  the  Papacy.  For  this  reason  they 
did  not  please  Melanchthon,  though  he 
attached  his  name  to  them.  Luther  was 
active  also  in  the  preparation  of  church 
orders,  exegetical  and  controversial 
treatises  and  in  adjusting  various 
church  difficulties  and  disputes. 

The  great  man  ended  his  days  Febru- 
ary 18th,  1546,  at  Eisleben,  his  birth- 
place, where  he  had  gone  to  adjust  some 
difficulties  which  had  arisen  between 
the  counts  of  Mansf eld.  His  last  words 
were,  ^^Into  thy  hands  I  commit  my 
spirit ;  thou  hast  redeemed  me,  O  Lord 


48  History  of  the 

God  of  truth."  His  remains  were  in- 
terred in  front  of  the  altar  in  the  castle 
church  at  Wittenberg,  where  they  have 
reposed  in  undisturbed  rest  to  this  day. 

LUTHER^S  ACTIVITY  AI<iD 
VERSATILITY* 

Luther's  life  Tvas  one  of  intense  ac- 
tivity. His  reformatory  e:fforts  extend 
over  a  period  of  about  thirty  years.  All 
this  time  he  labored  as  professor  in  the 
university,  preparing  and  delivering 
daily  lectures  to  the  students.  He 
preached  on  every  Lord's  Day  and  fre- 
quently on  every  day  of  the  week  His 
correspondence  was  immense,  his  letters 
at  times  running  up  in  number  to  one 
hundred  a  day.  He  attended  conven- 
tions and  meetings  without  number, 
some  at  great  distance  from  his  hom^e. 
He  traveled  over  many  thousands  of 
miles  and  as  often  on  foot  as  bv  con- 
veyance.    The  calls  made  on  him  by  men 


Lutherati  Version  of  the  Bible.       49 

from  far  and  near  were  very  numerous, 
and  consumed  much  of  his  time.  He 
suffered  from  frequent  attacks  of  sick- 
ness, when  he  was  compelled  to  rest 
from  his  labors.  His  home  and  family 
affairs  claimed  much  of  his  time  and 
care.  The  translation  of  the  Bible  alone 
would  have  required  the  entire  lifetime 
of  most  any  other  man,  yet  amidst  all 
these  labors  and  interruptions  the  pro- 
ductions that  flowed  from  his  pen  are 
so  numerous  as  to  astonish  and  amaze 
us  and  make  us  stare  with  a  look  of  in- 
credulity. Of  these  Prof.  Stowe  says: 
^'From  1517  to  1526,  the  first  ten  years 
of  the  Reformation,  the  number  of  his 
publications  was  300 ;  from  1527  to  1536, 
the  second  decade,  the  number  was  232 ; 
from  1537  to  1546,  the  year  of  his  death, 
the  number  was  183 ;  his  first  book  was 
published  in  November,  1517,  and  he 
died  in  February,  1546,  an  interval  of 
29  years  and  4  months.  In  this  time  he 
published  715  volumes,  an  average  of 


50  History  of  the 

more  than  25  a  year.  He  continued  his 
labors  to  the  very  last.  The  six  weeks 
immediately  preceding  his  death,  he  is- 
sued 31  publications  from  the  press,  an 
average  of  more  than  five  a  week.  The 
complete  catalogue  of  all  his  works, 
Latin  and  German,  comprises  24  folio 
pages,  closely  printed. ' '  If,  as  has  been 
said,  genius  is  a  capacity  for  work,  Lu- 
ther takes  the  rank  of  jDcrhaps  the 
greatest  genius  of  all  time.  His  genius, 
as  displayed  in  his  writings,  comprises 
all  subjects,— theology,  history,  politics, 
education,  literature,  poetry  and  music. 
In  every  department  he  seems  equally 
at  home,  and  his  views  are  expressed  at 
times  with  peculiar  eloquence  and  pow- 
er. On  every  topic  his  thoughts  are  or- 
iginal and  sketched  with  a  masterly 
hand.  Luther's  unsurpassed  diligence 
in  the  labors  of  his  calling  arose  from 
the  indv/elling  fervor  of  his  devotion  to 
the  cause  of  Christ  and  his  church,  and 


Lutheran  Version  of  the  Bible.       51 

from  the  ardor  of  his  love  for  human 
souls. 

LUTHER^S  DOCTRINES. 

The  leading  principles  of  Luther's 
theology  may  be  briefly  stated  as  fol- 
lows : 

1. 

' '  The  entire  corruption  of  human  na- 
ture by  sin,  the  consequent  wrath  and 
condemnation,  and  natural  inability  for 
self -recovery  or  response  to  first  ap- 
proaches of  divine  grace. 

2. 

God's  grace  and  m^ercy  proceed  en- 
tirely from  his  free  will,  and  not  from 
any  preceding  disposition  of  sinful  man. 
In  his  earlier  years,  Luther  taught  ab- 
solute predestination. 

3. 

The  vicarious  sufferings  of  Christ  as 
the  price  of  man's  redemption,  the  suf- 


52  History  of  the 

f erings  of  the  human  nature  having  ac- 
quired infinite  efficacy  by  its  union  witli 
the  divine  nature  in  the  one  divine  hu- 
man person. 

4. 

Justification  is  not  an  internal  change 
in  man,  but  is  an  external  act  of  God 
alone,  whereby,  for  the  sake  of  Christ's 
merits  received  by  faith,  he  forgives  sin 
and  pronounces  sinful  man  righteous. 

5. 

Faith  is  a  work  of  the  Holy  Ghost  in 
man,  wrought  through  the  means  of 
grace,  and  its  essential  factor  is  per- 
sonal confidence  in  the  merits  of  Christ. 

6. 

The  means  of  grace  are  the  Word  and 
the  Sacraments,  which  are  inseparabl}^ 
attended  by  the  Holy  Spirit,  so  that 
they  are  never  without  efficacy,  although 


Lutheran  Version  of  the  Bible.       53 

this  efficacy  does  not  work  so  as  to  save 
those  who  repel  the  Spirit's  approaches. 

7. 

Baptism  is  a  means  both  of  regener- 
ation and  renewal.  Those  who  aftei* 
baptism,  fall  from  baptismal  grace,  re- 
turn by  faith  to  the  covenant  first  niade 
in  baptism.  All  repentance  is  a  return 
to  baptism. 

8. 

Christ  is  present  in  the  Eucharist  in 
both  natures,  the  human  and  the  divine, 
in,  with  and  under  the  elements  of 
bread  and  wine,  and  is  so  received  by  all 
communicants,  the  believer  receiving 
him  to  his  salvation,  and  the  unbeliever 
to  his  condemnation. 

9. 

The  Holy  Scriptures  of  the  Old  and 
New  Testament  are  the  final  judge  of 
all  controversies,  but  everything  in  the 


54  History  of  the 

constitution  and  worship  of  the  church 
not  contrary  to  the  Scriptures,  is  to  be 
retained  and  thankfully  used. 

10. 

In  the  New  Testament,  besides  the 
High  Priesthood  of  our  Pligh  Priest, 
Jesus  Christ,  there  exists  only  the  spir- 
itual priesthood  of  all  believers,  since 
they  have  access  to  Christ  directly,  and 
without  the  mediation  of  saints,  angels 
or  any  priestly  order. 

11. 

The  ministry  and  priesthood  are 
therefore  distinct  institutions.  The 
mxinistry  belongs  to  the  whole  church, 
but  its  duties  are  to  be  exercised  only 
by  those  who  are  duly  called,  and  set 
apart  to  this  purpose.  In  exceptional 
cases,  however,  the  power  inherent  in 
any  Christian  congregation  m^ay  admit 
of  the  arising  anew  from  within," 


CHAPTER  IL 


THE  BIBLK 

The  word,  Bible,  is  derived  from  the 
Greek  word,  Biblia,  which  is  a  plural 
noun,  and  in  its  original  sense  signifies 
books,  but  by  usage  it  has  received  a 
singular  designation,  and  is  now  under- 
stood to  mean,  the  Book,  or  Book  of 
Books.  It  is  supposed  to  have  been  first 
applied  to  the  collected  sacred  scrip- 
tures during  the  fifth  century  of  our 
era,  since  which  time  it  has  been 
adopted  in  many,  perhaps  in  all  lan- 
guages into  which  the  scriptures  have 
been  translated.  The  Bible  is  divided 
into  two  chief  parts,  the  Old  Testament 
and  the  New,  and  contains  sixty-six 
books,  thirty-nine  of  which  belong  to 
the  Old  Testament,  and  twenty-seven  to 
the  New.    Originally  these  were  its  only 

55 


56  History  of  the 

divisions.  The  further  divisions  into 
chapters  and  verses  date  to  a  later  time, 
and  were  adopted  for  the  sake  of  con- 
venience, to  facilitate  reference  to  any 
of  its  parts.  The  system  of  chapters 
was  devised  by  Cardinal  Hugo  about  the 
middle  of  the  thirteenth  century.  The 
system  of  verses  owes  its  origin  to  Rob- 
ert Stephans,  a  distinguished  publisher 
of  Paris,  France,  and  was  by  him  in- 
troduced into  an  edition  of  the  Vulgate 
Version  in  1551,  and  although  not  al- 
ways wisely  made,  has  since  been  gen- 
erally adopted.  The  headmgs  of  chap- 
ters, announcing  the  subject  matter,  are 
an  addition  not  found  in  the  original. 

Originally  the  Bible  was  written  in 
three  di:fferent  languages,  the  Hebrew, 
the  Aramean,  and  the  Greek.  In  Ara- 
mean  there  are  but  two  books,  the  book 
of  Daniel  and  part  of  the  book  of  Ezra. 
All  the  other  books  of  the  Old  Testa- 
ment are  written  in  the  Hebrew.  Those 
of  the  New  Testament  are  all  written  in 


Lutheran  Version  of  the  Bible.       57 

Greek.  The  Scriptures  were  prepared 
in  various  localities  and  in  different 
ages,  by  writers  who  lived  far  apart  in 
time  and  m  space  They  were  men  of 
almost  every  social  rank.  Some  were 
statesmen  and  others  were  peasants; 
some  were  kings  and  others  were  herds- 
men; some  fishermen,  priests,  tax-gath- 
erers and  tentmakers;  some  educated 
and  others  uneducated ;  some  were  Jews 
and  others  were  Gentiles.  The  period 
during  which  these  writings  were  pro- 
duced embraces  fully  sixteen  hundred 
years.  But  after  all  this  great  variety, 
the  Scriptures  constitute  but  one  book, 
dealing  with  one  main  and  leading  sub- 
ject, in  its  numberless  objects  and  re- 
lations, the  subject  of  man's  redemp- 
tion. The  same  spirit  pervades  all  its 
parts,  the  same  faith,  the  sam.e  truths, 
the  same  duties  are  taught  throughout 
its  pages.  Such  harmony  preserved  un- 
der such  varying  circumstances,  and  for 
such  length  of  time,  can  be  rationally 


58  History  of  the 

accounted  for  upon  the  one  supposition 
only,  that  all  the  writers  were  taught 
and  governed  by  the  one  Holy  and  Om- 
niscient Spirit  of  God.  The  Scriptures 
are  of  Heaven  and  not  of  earth ;  of  di- 
vine and  not  of  human  origin.  Holy 
men  of  old  spake  and  wrote  as  they 
were  moved  by  the  Holy  Ghost. 

At  v/hat  time  the  different  sacred 
books  were  collected  into  one  volume  is 
not  definitely  known  at  present.  The 
Old  Testament  canon  was  complete  be- 
fore the  advent  of  Christ.  The  Apocry- 
pha were  published  with  the  other 
books,  and  were  held  in  high  esteem, 
but  were  not  looked  upon  as  divinely  in- 
spired productions.  Most  probably 
among  the  Jews  a  sacred  archive  was 
maintained  from  the  beginning  of  their 
independent  national  existence,  into 
which  all  the  inspired  books  were  de- 
posited for  safe-keeping,  as  they  came 
from  the  hands  of  their  authors,  and 


Lutheran  Version  of  the  Bible.       69 

were  there  carefully  watched  over  and 
preserved  for  the  use  of  future  ages. 

The  New  Testament  books,  or  copies 
of  the  originals,  had  to  be  collected  one 
by  one  from  the  various  localities  to 
Avhich  they  had  been  originall}^  sent  by 
their  authors.  Next  in  order  their  au- 
thenticity and  divine  authority  had  to 
be  carefully  examined  and  passed  upon, 
before  thev  could  be  com^bined  into  one 
volum.e,  and  sent  forth  as  the  Yf ord  of 
God.  Of  the  precise  time  and  date 
when  this  was  done  we  are  not  informed. 
Yet  we  are  not  altogether  left  in  the 
dark  as  to  this  fact.  Thus  we  know  of 
a  Latin  translation,  called  the  Itala, 
which  existed  tovrard  the  end  of  the  sec- 
ond centurv.  From  citations  of  this 
translation,  v/hich  appear  in  the  Vv^^it- 
ings  of  the  early  Christian  Fathers,  we 
learn  that  the  Itala  contained  all  the 
books  that  now  make  up  the  New  Testa- 
m.ent.  Moreover,  in  the  year  1740  there 
was  discovered  in  the  Ambrosian  Li- 


60  History  of  the 

brary  in  Milan,  Italy,  a  list  of  New 
Testament  Scriptures,  which  dates 
back  to  the  latter  half  of  the  second  cen- 
tury, and  in  which  all  the  books,  be- 
longing to  the  New  Testament  Canon, 
are  enumerated  as  divinely  inspired 
productions.  From  these  facts  it  is 
safe  to  conclude  that  the  New  Testa- 
ment Canon  was  completed,  and  that  all 
the  books  of  the  Bible  as  we  now  have 
them,  were  collected  into  one  body, 
sometime  before  the  close  of  the  second 
century. 


CHAPTER  III 


EARLY  TRANSLATIONS* 

The  translation  of  the  Scriptures  by 
Luther  was  not  the  first  of  its  kind.  It 
liad  its  predecessors,  which  were  more  or 
less  closely  connected  with  one  another, 
one  the  outgrowth  and  successor  of  the 
other,  until  they  culminated  in  that  of 
Luther.  We  will  therefore  begin  with 
the  first  of  these  translations  known  to 
us,  and  then  pass  on  to  its  successors, 
one  by  one,  until  we  reach  the  time  and 
work  of  Luther.  The  first  of  them 
known  to  us  is 

THE  SEPTUAGINT  VERSION- 

This  is  a  translation  of  the  Old  Testa- 
ment Scriptures  from  the  Hebrew  into 
the  Greek  language.    Septuagint  means 

61 


62  History  of  the 

seventy,  and  the  term  is  applied  to  the 
translation  because  it  was  supposed  an- 
ciently that  seventy  men  were  employed 
on  it.  The  story,  as  given  by  Aristeas  is 
as  f  ollow^s :  Ptolemy  Philadelphus,  king 
of  Egypt,  wished  to  add  a  copy  of  the 
book  of  the  Jewish  law  to  his  library  at 
Alexandria,  and  for  this  purpose  sent 
to  Jerusalem  to  the  high  priest,  Eleazar, 
to  ask  for  a  copy,  and  for  competent 
persons  to  translate  it  into  Greek.  Sev- 
enty-two men,  six  from  each  tribe,  were 
thereupon  sent  to  Egypt,  and  after  sev- 
enty-two days  spent  in  translating,  the 
first  five  books  of  the  Pentateuch  w^ere 
completed,  the  translators  having  as- 
sisted each  other.  Later  accounts  intro- 
duce miraculous  elements  into  the  storv, 
especially  that  given  by  Josephus,  the 
Jewish  historian.  Justin  Martyr  tells 
us  that  each  man  was  shut  up  alone 
in  a  cell  to  translate  the  Old  Testament 
unaided,  and  that  when  the  results  were 
compared  they  were  found  to  agree  in 


Lutheran  Version  of  the  Bible.       63 

every  point.  But  later  investigations 
have  proven  that  all  these  and  similar 
accounts  are  mere  legends,  and  for  his- 
torical purposes  are  untrustworthy  and 
worthless. 

The  real  facts  in  the  case  are  these. 
Alexandria  after  the  dispersion,  became 
a  center  of  Jewish  population,  and 
eventually  also  of  Jewish  religion.  But 
as  time  went  on  the  Jews,  under  Greek 
influence,  lost  command  of  the  Hebrew 
and  spoke  Greek  only,  and  therefore  re- 
quired a  translation  of  their  books  into 
Greek.  This  they,  and  not  Ptolemy  un- 
dertook. The  men  who  met  this  want 
differed  much  in  knowledge  and  skill, 
and  were  of  an  indeterminate  number, 
not  seventy,  nor  seventy-two.  They  la- 
bored at  different  periods,  beginning  in 
280  B.  C.  Avith  the  time  of  Ptolemy 
Philadelphus  and  continuing  at  the 
work  until  150  B.  C.  The  translators 
were  chiefly  Jews  of  Alexandrian  birth 
and   training,    and  therefore   strongly 


64  History  of  the 

hellenistic,  of  which  fact  the  translation 
furnishes  abundant  evidence. 

The  Septuagint  is  the  earliest  trans- 
lation known  to  us  of  any  part  of  the 
Holy  Scriptures  and  though  in  many 
parts  defective  and  inaccurate,  has 
served  useful  ends  and  good  purposes. 
To  the  student  and  translator  of  the 
Hebrew  Scriptures  it  has  served  as  an 
interpreter  and  been  of  very  great  ad- 
vantage. By  its  means  the  Gentile 
world  was  introduced  to  a  knowledge  of 
the  writings  of  Moses  and  the  Prophets, 
the  Gentiles  understanding  Greek, 
which  was  then  a  kind  of  international 
language.  Many,  no  doubt,  were  thus 
prepared  for  the  reception  of  the 
Christian  religion,  when  proclaimed  to 
them  b}^  the  Apostles  and  their  asso- 
ciates and  successors.  It  was  useful 
even  to  the  Jews  in  Palestine  at  the  time 
of  Christ.  That  they  understood  Greek 
better  than  their  o^vn  Hebrew  appears 
from  the  fact  that  most  of  the  quota- 


Lutheran  Version  of  the  Bible.       65 

tions  of  the  Old  Testament  found  in  the 
New  and  some  attributed  to  Christ,  are 
taken  from  the  Septuagint. 
The  next  version  in  age  is 

VETUS  LATINA* 

This  is  a  Latin  version  of  the  Old 
Testament  Scriptures,  vviiich  was  made 
from  the  Septuagint,  and  named  ^^Old 
Latin,''  being  the  first  made  Latin 
translation.  It  originated  in  Northern 
Africa,  Avhich  was  at  the  time  a  Roman 
province.  The  precise  date  when  it 
came  into  existence  is  not  laiown,  but, 
being  quoted  by  the  earliest  Latin  fath- 
ers, this  event  must  have  occurred  dur- 
ing the  early  part  of  the  second  century. 
Being  the  only  Latin  copy  of  the  Scrip- 
tures it  circulated  far  and  wide  through- 
out Northern  Africa.  But  being  made 
in  the  deteriorated  dialect  spoken  in 
that  part  of  the  Roman  empire,  it  was 
received  with  disfavor  in  Italy  when  in-= 


66  History  of  the 

troduced  there.  Here  Greek  was  well 
known,  and  when  the  translation  was 
compared  with  its  Greek  original,  the 
Septuagint,  it  was  found  to  be  an  inac- 
curate rendering.  Further,  a  higher 
culture  prevailed  in  Italy  than  in  Afri- 
ca. Hence,  the  Vetus  Latina,  both  on 
accomit  of  its  fault}^  rendering  and  its 
provincial  rudeness  of  dialect,  gave  of- 
fence to  the  Italians  and,  as  a  conse- 
quence, they  demanded  a  new  version. 
The  Latina  was  thereupon  taken  in 
hand  by  learned  men  and  by  them  cor- 
rected and  improved  to  such  an  extent 
as  to  prove  a  new  version.  This  latter 
received  the  name  and  title  of  Itala,  or 
Italian  Version  of  the  Old  Testament. 

.     THE  ITALA* 

The  Itala  was  not  only  a  great  im- 
provement of  the  Latina,  but  also  an  en- 
largement of  it.  For  there  was  added 
to  it  a  Latin  translation  of  the  books  of 


Luther  Reads  the   Bible  to  the  Elector  John  the 
Constant. 


Lutheran  Version  of  the  Bible.       67 

the  New  Testament.  By  this  addition 
tlie  Itala  became  the  first  complete  col- 
lection into  one  body  of  both  the  Old 
and  the  New  Testament  Scriptures.  It 
was  made  before  the  close  of  the  sec- 
ond century,  and  remained  in  use  among 
the  Latin-speaking  populations  for  a 
long  time.  But  as  time  passed  it  lost 
much  of  its  authority  and  influence. 
Not  a  good  translation  when  it  was 
made,  by  frequent  copying  it  at  last  had 
become  so  corrupt  as  to  be  unfit  for  use. 
There  was,  therefore,  urgent  need  for 
thorough  revision.  At  this  crisis  God 
himself  came  to  the  help  of  the  church 
and  raised  up  the  man  to  do  the  required 
work.  This  man  was  the  distinguished 
church  father,  Jerome.  With  this  we 
have  come  to  the  next  version, 

THE  LATIN  VULGATE. 

The  author  of  this  translation  was 
Sophronius  Eusebius  Hieronymus,  com- 


68  History  of  the 

monly  called  Jerome.  Of  all  the  Christ- 
ian Fathers  this  man  was  the  most  eru- 
dite and  scholarly.  He  was  born  in 
Stridon  in  Dalmatia,  a  town  which  no 
longer  exists,  about  340  A.  D.  After 
studying  with  his  father,  Eusebius,  who 
was  a  learned  Christian  teacher,  he  went 
to  Rome,  where  he  was  instructed  in  the 
Greek  language,  in  philosophy,  and  in 
Roman  literature.  He  was  baptized  by 
the  Roman  Bishop,  Liberius,  in  360. 
About  373,  he  quitted  Rome  and  went  to 
Antioch  in  Syria,  where  he  tarried  until 
374.  Here  it  is  related,  Christ  appeared 
to  him  in  a  dream,  and  addressed  him, 
saying,  ^^  Jerome,  thou  art  not  a  Christ- 
ian, but  a  Ciceronian.''  This  influenced 
him  from  this  time  forth,  to  devote  him- 
self entirely  to  ecclesiastical  studies.  A 
fever,  which  attacked  him  at  Antioch, 
gave  his  mind  a  strong  impulse  toward 
asceticism,  and  he  retired  to  the  wastes 
of  Cholcis,  southeast  of  Antioch.  But 
his  constitution,  naturally  weak,  proved 


Lutheran  Version  of  the  Bible.        69 

unable  to  bear  up  under  the  severe 
habits  of  abstinence  and  penance,  which 
he  here  practiced.  He  therefore  left  the 
place  and  returned  to  Antioch.  Ar- 
rived here  he  was  made  presbyter  in 
379,  much  against  his  will.  From  An- 
tioch he  went  to  Constantinople,  to  sit 
at  the  feet  of  the  learned  Gregory  Naz- 
ianzen  and  from  here  he  returned  a  sec- 
ond time  to  Rome  in  382.  Here  he 
studied  and  labored  with  great  dili- 
gence. In  some  way  the  Roman  bishop, 
Damasius,  heard  of  him  and  sought  his 
acquaintance;  and  recognizing  his  tal- 
ents, and  perceiving  his  industry,  he  be- 
came warmly  attached  to  him  and  aided 
him  in  his  studies  and  writings. 

It  was  here  in  Rome,  where  a  com- 
pany of  women  gathered  around  him  to 
listen  to  his  exposition  of  the  Scriptures, 
and  to  be  prepared  by  him  for  a  con- 
ventual life.  With  two  of  their  num- 
ber, Paula  and  her  daughter,  Eustoch- 
ium,  he  went  on  a  pilgrimage  to  the 


70  History  of  the 

Holy  Land  in  385.  Arriving  there,  lie  re- 
tired to  a  hermit  cell  in  the  vicinity  of 
Bethlehem.  A  convent,  over  which 
Paula  presided,  was  soon  erected,  and 
an  inn  for  pilgrims.  Here  Jerome  re- 
mained until  his  death,  engaged  in  de- 
votion and  in  literary  labors.  He  was  a 
zealous  advocate  of  the  perpetual  vir- 
ginity of  the  Virgin  Mary,  of  the  meri- 
toriousness  of  fasting  and  celibacy,  and 
the  worship  of  martyrs  and  relics. 
Strange  as  it  may  seem,  these  errors 
made  their  appearance  in  the  church 
during  the  beginning  of  the  second  cen- 
tury, soon  after  the  death  of  the  last  of 
the  Apostles,  and  have  maintamed 
themselves  in  the  Roman  Communion 
until  this  da  v.  Some  of  the  most  able 
and  spiritual  of  the  church  fathers  ad- 
vocated them  in  opinion  and  in  practice. 
Though  given  to  this  erratic  course,  Je- 
rome proved  himself  a  very  useful  and 
deserving  man.  He  was  the  translator 
of  the  Vulgate  Version,  and  the  author 


Lutheran  Version  of  the  Bible.        71 

of  devotional  and  theological  books.  He 
brought  out  the  distinction  between  the 
Canon  and  the  Apocrypha.  The  latter, 
he  says,  the  church  reads  for  the  edifica- 
tion of  the  people,  but  not  for  confirm- 
ing the  authority  of  ecclesiastical  doc- 
trine. His  letters,  which  are  many,  are 
also  important.  They  answer  questions 
of  conscience,  commend  monastic  life, 
comfort  the  sorrowing,  and  condemn  the 
vices  and  follies  of  the  dav. 

Luther,  though  cheerfully  acknow- 
ledging Jerome's  merits,  disliked  him 
on  account  of  his  monkery.  He  says: 
^^I  know  no  teacher  to  whom  I  am  so 
hostile  as  I  am  to  Jerome.  He  writes 
only  of  fasting,  of  meats,  and  of  virgin- 
it}^  If  only  he  had  insisted  upon  the 
works  of  faith  and  practiced  them.  But 
he  teaches  nothing  about  faith,  or  love, 
or  hope,  or  the  works  of  faith.'' 

Jerome  was  well  qualified  for  the 
translation  of  the  Scriptures.  He  was 
the  most  learned  Christian  scholar,  not 


72  History  of  the 

only  of  his  day,  but  of  many  centuries. 
He  was  amply  prepared  linguistically 
through  his  thorough  acquaintance  with 
Latin,  Greek  and  Hebrew ;  and  morally 
and  spiritually  by  his  piety.  Damasius, 
bishop  of  Rome  from  366  to  384,  recog- 
nizing Jerom.e  's  fitness  and  realizing  the 
necessity  of  a  new  translation  of  the 
Scriptures,  requested  him  to  undertake 
the  work.  He  began  his  labors  in  Rome 
in  383,  and  finished  the  translation  of 
the  entire  Bible  in  Bethlehem  in  404. 
Portions  of  it  Avere  done  in  great  haste, 
and  there  are  errors,  which  with  more 
care,  he  would  not  have  made,  but  as  a 
monument  of  linguistic  power,  his 
translation  of  the  Old  Testament,  stands 
unrivalled  and  unique. 

Jerome's  translation,  although  by 
some  used  at  once,  when  finished  spread 
verv  slowlv  and  o-raduallv.  Centuries 
passed  before  it  attained  to  general  cir- 
culation in  the  West  of  Euroi^e.  No 
one  befriended  it.     Bishoio  Damasius, 


Lutheran  Version  of  the  Bible.        73 

the  mover  of  it,  had  died  before  it  was 
completed  in  384.  It  had  to  win  its  way 
by  its  own  merit,  and  not  until  the  ninth 
century  was  its  victory  complete.  Ow- 
ing to  Jerome's  defective  eyesight, 
which  obliged  him  to  employ  an  aman- 
uensis, as  also  through  frequent  tran- 
scriptions, the  text  had  become  badly 
corrupted  by  the  eighth  century. 
Charlemagne,  in  802,  ordered  Alcuin, 
the  most  learned  man  of  his  day,  and 
his  trusted  friend,  to  revise  the  Latin 
text,  which  he  did  with  some  degree  of 
success.  As  the  years  passed  other  ver- 
sions were  made,  some  for  better  and 
others  for  worse.  After  all  its  various 
vicissitudes,  its  most  glorious  day  came 
at  last.  Printing  was  invented  about 
1450,  and  the  first  book  sent  out  by  the 
press  was  the  Latin  Bible.  Copies  of 
it  were  quickly  multiplied,  until  in  a 
short  time  it  attained  a  more  wide- 
spread circulation  than  it  had  ever  en- 


74  History  of  the 

joyed  before.    No  other  book  was  more 
frequently  printed. 

Its  improvement  was  now  begmi 
anew,  and  with  greater  earnestness  and 
ability  than  ever  before.  Cardinal 
Ximenes  of  Spain,  1437-1517,  in  his 
complutensian  polyglot,  begmi  1502  and 
finished  in  1517,  made  the  first  serious 
attempt  to  revise  the  text.  There  was 
felt  the  necessity  of  an  authorized  edi- 
tion, one  having  the  approval  of  the 
highest  authority  of  the  church.  This 
the  Council  of  Trent,  Anti-Reforma- 
tion, demanded  in  1546.  The  work  was 
accordingly  undertaken  by  the  then 
ruling  Pope  Sixtus,  and  was  issued  in 
1590.  This,  according  to  the  decision  of 
the  highest  Roman  Catholic  authority, 
was  to  be  the  final  edition  of  the  version. 
Its  text,  by  the  Papal  constitution,  was 
declared  to  be  ^^true,  lawful,  authentic, 
unquestioned  in  all  public  and  private 
discussion,  reading,  preaching,  and  ex- 
planation.''   The  printing  of  any  other 


Lutheran  Version  of  the  Bible.        75 

text  was  forbidden  under  penalty  of  ex- 
communication. But  new  errors  had 
slipped  in,  and  others  had  remained  un- 
corrected. So  the  papal  infallibility 
was  set  aside,  and  another  version  made, 
the  issue  of  which  appeared  in  1592,  and 
was  called  the  Clementine,  after  Pope 
Clement,  the  8th,  under  whose  pontifi- 
cate it  was  made.  This  is  the  last  re- 
vision made  of  the  Vulgate  Bible,  and 
this  the  Roman  church  esteems  of  the 
same,  or  even,  higher,  authority  than 
the  original  Hebrew  or  Greek.  Recent- 
ly there  has  once  more  been  some  talk 
of  revision,  but  up  to  this  time  nothing 
practical  has  developed.  Sure  it  is,  how- 
ever, that  there  is  another  revision  re- 
quired. 

We  have  thus  spoken  at  some  length 
of  this  revision  because  of  its  impor- 
tance. This  arises  from  these  facts.  For 
a  thousand  years,  at  least,  it  was  the 
only  scriptural  version  in  general  use 
among  the  people  of  the  Latin  Church, 


76  History  of  the 

which  then  comprehended  nearly  all 
Europe.  It  was  the  Bible  which  Luth- 
er discovered  in  the  university  library 
of  Erfurt,  and  from  which  he  learned 
the  way  of  salvation  by  faith  alone  in 
Jesus  Christ.  It  was  the  book  from 
which  the  first  English  translation  was 
made  by  Wycli:ffe,  and  which  was  con- 
sulted by  the  numerous  Bible  translat- 
ors of  the  16th  century.  It  has  borne 
a  large  share  in  shaping  the  form,  and 
language  of  the  German,  English  and 
other  modern  versions  of  the  sacred 
Scriptures. 


CHAPTER  IV. 


THE  GOTHIC  TRANSLATION  BY 
ULFILAS. 

This  is  an  isolated  version,  having 
neither  predecessor  nor  successor.  It  is 
here  introduced,  not  because  it  has  any 
connection  with  tlie  version  made  by 
Luther,  but  simply  because  it  was  the 
first  effort  of  translating  the  Scriptures 
into  the  German  language.  It  was 
made  by  the  Gothic  Bishop  Ulfilas  dur- 
ing the  fourth  century. 

The  Goths  v/ere  a  German  tribe,  who 
had  their  seat  in  northeast  Germany, 
at  the  dav\ai  of  our  era,  from  whence 
they  emigrated  southward,  as  far  as  the 
present  Hungary  and  settled  on  the 
River  Theiss,  and  eastward  as  far  as  the 
northern  coast  of  the  Black  Sea.  In 
the  middle  of  the  third  century  they 

77 


78  History  of  the 

broke  up  their  settlement  here  and  en- 
tered the  Roman  empire.  In  their  wan- 
derings we  find  tliem  at  one  time  in 
Greece,  and  at  another  in  Asia  Minor, 
always  restless,  and  ever  warlike  and 
destructive.  Encountering  the  Roman 
armies,  they  sometimes  conquered  them, 
and  sometimes  were  conquered  by  them. 
The}'  were  at  last  driven  back  westward 
and  reached  the  Roman  province  Dacia, 
which  they  conquered  and  occupied  for 
some  time,  and  where  in  turn,  about  the 
vear  375,  they  were  conquered  by  the 
Huns,  another  warlike  and  barbarian 
tribe.  At  this  time,  already  they  were 
divided  into  sections,  the  East  and  West 
Goths.  The  latter  went  westward  and 
spread  themselves  over  southern  France 
and  Spain.  Their  possessions  in  France 
they  soon  lost  again,  but  in  Spain  they 
maintained  their  rule  until  the  eighth 
century,  when  in  the  invasion  of  their 
countrv  bv  the  Mohammedans,  thev  lost 
their    independence    and    disappeared 


Lutheran  Version  of  the  Bible.       79 

forever  as  an  empire  and  a  nation.  The 
East  Goths  after  freeing  themselves 
from  the  yoke  of  the  Hmis,  toward  the 
close  of  the  fifth  centur}^,  under  their 
leader,  Theodoric  The  Great,  founded 
the  East  Gothic  empire,  which  embraced 
Itah",  Sicily,  Salmatia,  and  southern 
France.  They  had  b}^  this  time  become 
highly  civilized,  and  maintained  a  pros- 
perous and  beneficent  rule.  But  after 
an  existence  of  but  fifty  years,  their  em- 
pire fell  to  pieces,  their  rule  ended  and 
their  name  and  nationality  vanished 
from  among  the  nations. 

These  people,  as  early  as  the  fourth 
century,  abandoned  heathenism,  and 
embraced  the  Christian  religion.  They 
were  the  first  German  tribe  who  were 
converted  to  Christianity.  Their  apostle 
was  Ulfilas,  who  was  the  son  of  Christ- 
ian parents,  311-381.  He  was  a  man  of 
upright  character  and  a  diligent  and 
faithful  Christian  laborer.  He  trans- 
lated the  Scriptures  into  the  Gothic  Ian- 


80  History  of  the 

guage,  a  German  dialect  for  which  he 
invented  a  new  alphabet,  which  he  con- 
structed out  of  Greek,  Latin  and  Runic 
characters.  His  translation  embraced 
the  entire  Bible,  with  the  exception  of 
the  four  books  of  the  Kings,  which,  ow- 
ing to  their  warlike  character,  he  con- 
sidered as  dangerous  to  a  people  like  the 
Goths,  already  too  much  given  to  war 
and  bloodshed.  The  greater  part  of  the 
Old  Testament  of  his  version  has  come 
down  to  us,  but  not  much  of  the  New. 
Ulfilas  belonged  to  the  then  wide- 
spread sect  of  the  Arians.  Their  pecu- 
liarity was  that  they  believed  God  the 
Son  to  be  inferior  to  God  the  Father, 
by  which  they  called  in  question  the  di- 
vinity of  the  second  person  of  the  God- 
head, a  very  serious  and  dangerous 
heresy.  But  of  this  error  there  is  no 
trace  in  the  version  of  Ulfilas,  which  is 
so  faithfully  and  skillfully  executed  that 
even  the  finer  shades  of  the  original 
are  happily  brought  out.     The  version 


Lutheran  Version  of  the  Bible.       81 

is  made  from  the  Greek  text,  and  there- 
fore has  critical  weight.  Thus  it  hap- 
pened that  the  translation  of  the  Scrip- 
tures became  the  first  monument  of  Ger- 
man literature.  Twelve  hundred  years 
later  another  sacred  translation  became 
the  greatest  and  most  glorious  monu- 
ment of  the  same  language  for  all  time. 

That  Ulfilas  was  a  man  who  was  high- 
ly esteemed,  and  enjoyed  the  confidence 
of  men  of  the  highest  station  in  the 
Church,  is  evidenced  by  the  fact,  that  in 
341  he  was  ordained  bishop  by  Eusebius, 
Patriarch  of  Constantinople,  who,  like 
himself,  was  an  adherent  of  the  Arian 
doctrine. 

Owing  to  the  wide  extent  of  the  Goth- 
ic empire,  the  version  of  Ulfilas  was 
widely  circulated,  and  exerted  a  great 
and  highly  beneficent  influence.  Event- 
ually, however,  it  was  entirely  lost  sight 
of  for  centuries,  until  in  the  latter  part 
of  the  16th  century,  Anton  Morilon  re- 
ported having  seen  at  a  Monastery  in 


82  History  of  the 

the  town  of  Werden,  Westphalia,  a 
Gothic  codex  from  which  he  copied  the 
Lord's  Prayer.  This  is  supposed  to 
have  been  wliat  is  known  as  the  Codex 
Argenteus,  which  dates  back  to  the 
sixth  century,  and  is  one  of  great  value 
and  beauty.  After  this  it  must  have 
found  its  way  into  Bohemia.  For  in 
1648,  during  the  siege  of  Prague  by  the 
Swedes,  it  was  re-discovered  in  that 
city,  and  from  thence  taken  to  Sweden. 
It  is  now  in  the  university  library  in 
Upsala,  and  is  regarded  as  the  most 
precious  treasure  of  that  celebrated  in- 
stitution. It  is  written  upon  purple 
parchment,  in  gold  and  silver  letters. 

We  count  the  Gothic  version  by  Ul- 
filas  among  the  German  versions  and 
rightly  so,  but  it  is  not  from  thence  to 
be  inferred  that  Germans  of  the  present 
day  can  easily  read  and  readily  under- 
stand it.  The  German  language  since 
the  time  of  Ulfilas,  has  undergone  great 
transformations,  and  has  become  ^n  ^-1- 


Lutheran  Yersion  of  the  Bible.       83 

most  entirely  different  tongue.  The  an- 
tiquarian philologist  alone,  is  able  to 
trace  the  connection  between  the  old 
and  the  new,  and  to  translate  the  ancient 
into  the  modern. 


CHAPTER  ¥• 


SOME  ANCIENT  VERSIONS. 

Of  these,  beside  those  spoken  of  above, 
there  are  a  considerable  number.  None 
of  them  have,  however,  any  connection 
with  that  of  Luther.  Luther,  most  like- 
ly did  not  know  them,  certainly  did  not 
consult  them.  They  are,  the  Samaritan 
Pentateuch,  which  was  made  many 
years  before  the  time  of  Christ;  the 
Peshito,  a  very  old  Syrian  translation ; 
the  Coptic,  the  Ethiopian,  the  Arabian 
and  the  Armenian.  The  last  four  are  of 
somewhat  later  date  than  the  former, 
and  all  of  them  contain  parts  only  of 
the  Bible.  At  a  still  later  time,  Sla- 
vonian, Polish,  Russian,  and  other 
translations  were  executed,  unknown  to 
Luther. 

84 


Lutheran  Version  of  the  Bible.       85 

EARLY  GERMAN  EFFORTS* 

After  the  time  of  Ulfilas  centuries  of 
stormy  tim.es  passed  over  Europe  and 
for  a  long  time  we  find  no  further  traces 
of  attempts  at  Scriptural  translations 
into  the  German  language.  Meanwhile, 
however,  the  Christian  religion  pene- 
trated deeper  and  deeper  into  Germany, 
and  f  omid  an  ever  growing  lodgment  in 
the  hearts  of  the  German  people.  It 
was  then  that  there  was  awakened  an 
interest  in  the  sacred  Scriptures  and 
fragments  of  them  were  produced  in 
the  German  language.  They  were  taken 
from  the  Gospels,  from  the  Psalms  and 
other  books.  In  the  9th  century,  a  po- 
etic gospel  harmony  appeared,  the  pro- 
duction of  a  Westphalian  monk,  which 
was  a  life  of  Christ,  under  the  title  of 
Haliland,  i.  e.,  Heiland  or  Saviour.  This 
was  composed  in  rhyme.  About  the 
same  time  Otfried  of  Weisenburg  in 
Alsatia,  a  Benedictine  monk,  versified 


86  History  of  the 

the  gospel  history  in  the  Allemanian 
dialect  in  1500  verses,  divided  into  stan- 
zas, each  stanza  containing  four  lines. 
Neither  production  was  a  literal  trans- 
lation, but  for  the  time  being  they  served 
as  vernacular  Bibles  to  these  people,  but 
recently  emerged  from  barbarism. 
Other  efforts  of  a  like  nature  were 
made,  but  neither  important  nor  suc- 
cessful enough  to  be  mentioned  in  this 
connection. 

PAPAL  DISFAVOR* 

It  is  no  wonder  that  so  little  was  done 
at  that  time  to  give  the  people  the  Bible 
in  their  own  tongue.  The  sad  fact  is 
that  as  the  papal  influence  and  power  in- 
creased, so  the  attention  and  regard  for 
the  Bible  decreased.  The  pope  at  an 
early  date,  interdicted  the  reading  of 
the  Scriptures  by  the  laity.  In  the  11th 
century,  already  Pope  Gregory  the  7th, 
issued  a  prohibition  to  this  effect,  and 


Lutheran  Version  of  the  Bible.       87 

ever  since  there  has  not  arisen  a  Pope 
who  has  favored  the  reading  of  God's 
word  by  the  common  people.  It  was  de- 
termined by  papal  Rome,  that  all  the 
religious  thinking  and  believing  of  the 
nations  should  be  made  dependent,  not 
on  God's  word,  but  on  the  dictation  of 
pope  and  priest. 

After  the  art  of  printing  was  invent- 
ed, numerous  versions  of  the  Bible  ap- 
peared in  Germany  in  print  and  were 
offered  for  sale.  But  they  were  all  hast- 
ily and  carelessly  made  and  were  neith- 
er readable  nor  true  translations.  Luth- 
er consulted  none  of  them.  According 
to  Dr.  John  Stoughton,  the  first  of  these 
Bibles  appeared  in  1466.  Dr.  Krauth 
states  that  when  Luther  began  his  trans- 
lation they  had  multiplied  to  fifteen  in 
number.  But  there  existed  one  transla- 
tion before  the  time  of  Luther,  which 
deserves  mention  in  this  connection. 
This  is  the  so-called  Mediaeval  Bible, 
supposed  to  date  back  to  the  13th  cen- 


88  History  of  the 

tury.  It  was  made  from  the  Vulgate. 
Time,  place  and  author  of  it  are  un- 
known. By  some  it  is  ascribed  to 
Waldensian  origin,  but  with  no  convinc- 
ing proof.  It  was  long  a  question  of  dis- 
pute whether  Luther  had  consulted  and 
made  use  of  this  version.  Professor 
Dr.  Krafft  of  Bonn  claims  that  Luther 
had  it  before  him  and  made  use  of  it 
when  engaged  in  his  translation.  In 
proof  of  his  assertion  he  produces  par- 
allel passages  from  the  two  versions, 
Luther's  and  the  Mediaeval,  and  it  must 
be  confessed  that  they  bear  a  most  strik- 
ing resemblance.  But  as  this  can  hap- 
pen undesignedly  and  unconsciously 
where  two  translations  are  equally  cor- 
rectly made,  and  as  Luther  nowhere 
speaks  of  this  Mediaeval  version,  we  are 
left  to  conjecture  in  regard  to  his  use 
of  it. 

The  origin  of  the  Mediaeval  Bible  is 
still  unknown.  Protestant  scholars, 
who  have  given  the  subject  their  atten- 


Lutheran  Version  of  the  Bible.       89 

tion,  claim  a  Waldensian  authorship  for 
it.  Catholic  scholars,  on  the  other  hand, 
assign  it  a  Catholic  origin.  The  reasons 
advanced  by  either  party  in  support  of 
their  position  do  not  make  it  clear  which 
is  the  correct  view.  The  version  itself 
is  a  pretty  fair  translation  of  the  Vul- 
gate, including,  of  course,  all  its  faults 
and  imperfections.  With  all  its  merits 
it  had,  by  the  time  of  Luther,  grown  an- 
tiquated, and  had  become  of  little  use  to 
the  common  reader. 

According  to  a  statement  of  Dr.  Wil- 
ibald  Grinm^i,  fourteen  of  those  German 
versions  which  were  in  circulation  at 
the  beginning  of  the  Reformation  are 
still  extant,  and  numerous  copies  of 
them  are  still  found  distributed  through 
various  public  and  private  libraries. 
The  same  wi'iter  also  assumes  it  as  a 
fact  that  the  said  versions  are  not  ver- 
sions, not  original  and  independent 
translations,  as  was  formerly  supposed, 
but  mere  copies,  or  editions,  of  the  ver- 


90  History  of  the 

sion  of  the  ISth  century,  kno^vn  as  the 
Mediaeval  Bible.  They  were  all  made 
after  the  year  1450,  the  year  in  which 
the  art  of  printing  was  invented,  the 
first  one  appearing  in  the  year  1466  and 
the  last  one  in  1522.  They  were  of  no 
great  value  and  of  no  assistance  what- 
ever to  Luther  in  his  work  of  translat- 
ing. As  regards  their  literary  execu- 
tion, Dr.  Krauth,  a  very  competent  au- 
thority, pronounces  them  all  abomin- 
able. Their  defects,  however,  were  not 
so  much  owing  to  the  incompetency  of 
their  authors,  as  to  the  barbarous  con- 
dition of  the  German  language  before 
the  time  of  Luther.  Further,  none  of 
these  editions  give  the  names  of  their 
authors.  This  omission,  so  unusual,  is 
plausibly  accounted  for  by  the  supposi- 
tion that  they  were  made  by  priests  and 
monks  who  feared  to  make  public  their 
identity.  Rome  did  not  approve  of  work 
like  theirs  and  was  ever  ready  to  visit 
her  displeasure  on  all  who  had  the  hard- 


Lutheran  Version  of  the  Bible.       91 

ihood  to  attempt  it.  That  these  editions^ 
in  many  points,  vary  from  one  another, 
as  also  from  the  original,  is  doubtless 
owing  to  the  fact  that  each  author  made 
such  changes  in  his  copy  as  the  peculiar 
dialect  of  his  district  and  other  local 
conditions  seemed  to  him  to  demand. 


CHAPTER  VL 


WRITING  AND  PRINTING. 

At  this  point  of  our  narrative  we 
deem  it  proper  to  offer  a  statement,  re- 
garding the  manner  of  recording  facts 
and  events.  Anciently,  writing  was 
done  by  means  of  hieroglyphics,  pic- 
tures being  used  where  we  now  use  let- 
ters, as  when  the  picture  of  the  sun  is 
made  to  represent  day,  and  that  of  the 
moon  to  represent  night.  To  this  suc- 
ceeded writing  by  means  of  letters, 
which  was  a  vast  improvement  on  the 
former  mode.  At  what  time  and  bv 
whom  letters  were  invented  and  came 
into  use,  cannot  be  determined  at  pres- 
ent. According  to  an  ancient  tradition, 
we  are  indebted  to  the  people  of  Phoe- 
nicia for  this  useful  art,  but  the  claim 
rests  on  no  solid  foundation.    The  oldest 

92 


Lutheran  Version  of  the  Bible.       93 

of  this  kind  of  writing,  extant,  is  that 
of  Moses,  as  we  have  it  in  the  Old  Testa- 
ment of  our  Sacred  Scriptures.  This 
dates  back  to  a  period  about  1500  years 
anterior  to  the  time  of  Christ.  From 
this  time  until  the  15th  century  of  our 
era,  a  period  of  about  3,000  years,  all 
writing  had  to  be  done  by  hand,  which 
is  a  slow  and  laborious  process.  As  a 
consequence  books  were  few  in  number 
and  high  in  price.  Writing  and  reading 
during  this  time  were  rare  accomplish- 
ments, and  were  confined  to  a  few  spec- 
ially favored  persons.  During  the  me- 
diaeval period  the  monasteries  were  al- 
most the  only  places  where  writing  was 
known  and  practiced.  There  were 
kings  then,  and  priests,  and  even  bish- 
ops, who  could  not  as  much  as  write 
their  own  names.  So  expensive  were 
the  productions  of  the  pen,  at  that  time, 
that  a  well-executed  copy  of  the  Bible 
commanded  a  price  of  from  500  to  1,000 
dollars.     The  wealthiest  persons  only 


94  History  of  the 

were  able  to  procure  so  valuable  a  treas- 
ure. But  a  change  came  at  last.  About 
tlie  middle  of  the  15th  century,  John 
Guttenberg  of  Mainz,  Germany,  in- 
vented the  art  of  printing  with  movable 
letters.  From  this  time  forward  books 
were  rapidly  multiplied,  and  became 
much  reduced  in  price.  By  means  of  the 
printing  press  a  new  era  was  ushered 
in.  By  multiplying  and  cheapening 
books,  it  created  a  powerful  stimulus  to 
intellectual  activity,  such  as  had  never 
been  known  to  exist  before.  From  all 
stations  and  spheres  of  society,  men 
turned  their  attention  to  reading,  study 
and  inquiry  in  a  manner  hitherto  un- 
known. As  a  result  a  numerous  class 
of  able  writers  and  learned  authors 
arose,  where  before  supreme  intellectual 
stupor  and  indifference  to  mental  cul- 
ture had  ruled.  This  newly  awakened 
spirit  of  inquiry,  among  other  objects, 
took  its  direction  in  favor  of  church  and 
religion.    Grea^t  corruptioip.  was  discov- 


Lutheran  Version  of  the  Bible.       95 

ered  in  this  sphere,  in  places  high  and 
low.  The  whole  religious  body  was  dis- 
eased from  head  to  foot.  Hence  arose 
from  all  directions  the  demand  for  re- 
form. This  demand  would  not  have  be- 
come as  urgent  and  as  dominant  had  the 
printing  press  not  come  into  use.  As 
thus  printing  became  one  of  the  agencies 
to  lead  to  a  demand  for  a  reformation  in 
church  and  religion,  so,  when  the  work 
of  reformation  had  been  inaugurated, 
it  proved  itself  a  most  efficient  aid  in  its 
further  advancement  and  ultimate  suc- 
cess. Without  the  printing  press  the 
Scriptures  could  not  have  been  put  into 
the  hands  of  the  masses,  perhaps  would 
not  have  been  translated  in  the  vernacu- 
lar, and  thus  the  Bible  would  have  re- 
mained a  closed  volume  to  the  majority 
of  the  common  people.  Nor  can  w^e  re- 
sist the  conviction,  that  the  invention  of 
printing  just  at  this  time,  on  the  eve  of 
one  of  the  most  miomentous  epochs  of 
human  history,  was  owing  to  anything 


96  History  of  the 

but  the  special  agency  and  design  of  an 
allwise  and  benign  Providence.  Hu- 
manly speaking,  the  Protestant  Refor- 
mation of  the  16th  century  could  not 
have  succeeded  without  the  aid  of  the 
printing  press. 


CHAPTER  VIL 


THE  LUTHERAN  VERSION- 

Briefly  stated,  this  is  a  German  trans- 
lation of  the  entire  Bible,  which  had  the 
Reformer,  Martin  Luther,  for  its  au- 
thor, was  made  from  the  Hebrew  and 
Greek  languages,  in  which  the  Scrip- 
tures were  originally  written,  was  be- 
gun in  1521,  and  completed  in  1533,  the 
first  complete  copy  being  issued  from 
the  press  in  1534. 

LUTHER^S  QUALIFICATIONS* 

Luther  was  endowed  by  nature  and 
education  with  a  rare  combination  of 
gifts  for  a  Bible  translator.  He  had 
made  himself  familiar  with  the  original 
languages,  the  Hebrew  and  the  Greek, 
and  with  the  Latin  he  was  as  conversant 

7  97 


58  History  of  the 

as  with  his  own  native  German.  He  was 
a  perfect  master  of  the  vernacular,  had 
full  faith  in  the  revealed  Word  of  God, 
an  enthusiastic  attachment  to  the  Gos- 
pel, and  a  clear  insight  into  the  deep 
things  of  God.  He  was  energetic  and 
persevering  in  all  he  undertook,  regard- 
less of  difficulty  and  opposition.  A  good 
translation  must  be  true  in  sense  to  the 
original,  and  so  faithful  to  the  idiom  of 
the  vernacular  as  to  read  like  an  orig- 
inal work.  These  characteristics  we 
find  in  Luther's  version.  The  reputa- 
tion also  which  he  had  already  acquired 
as  an  author,  at  once  commanded  uni- 
versal attention  to  his  version. 

There  were  men  living  who  were  abler 
linguists  than  he  was,  such  as  Melanch- 
thon,  Erasmus,  and  Reuchlin,  but  his 
command  of  Greek  and  Hebrew  was  suf- 
ficient to  form  an  independent  judgment, 
and  if  need  be,  he  was  prepared  to  pro- 
ceed in  his  labor  without  assistance. 
Peter  Mosolanus,  who  presided  at  the 


Melaxchthon   Assisting   Luther    ix    Traxslating. 


Lutheran  Version  of  the  Bible.       99 

discussion  in  Leipsic,  in  1519,  says  of 
Luther:  ^^His  voice  is  melodious,  his 
learning  and  knowledge  of  Scripture 
are  so  extraordinary,  that  he  has  nearly 
everything  at  his  finger  ends.  Greek 
and  Hebrew  he  understands  sufficiently 
well  to  give  his  judgment  on  interpreta- 
tion." He  had  given  attention  to  the 
languages  of  Scripture  years  before  he 
entered  on  his  translation.  In  the  mon- 
astery in  Erfurt  already  he  had  begun 
their  study,  and  had  prosecuted  it  dili- 
gently ever  since.  From  the  Wartburg 
he  writes  to  Spalatin :  ^ '  Bibliam,  Grec- 
am,  Hebraicam  lego. ' '  Dr.  S chaff  says : 
^^Melanchthon  was  master  of  the  an- 
cient languages,  Luther  of  the  German. 
The  former,  by  his  co-operation,  secured 
accuracy  to  the  German  Bible,  the  latter 
idiomatic  force  and  poetic  beauty. ' '  In 
the  German  tongue,  Luther  had  no  riv- 
al. Here  he  was  supreme  master.  He 
created,  so  to  speak,  the  modern  High 
German  and  imparted  to  it  shape  and 


100  History  of  the 

form.  He  combined  the  official  lan- 
guage of  the  government  with  that  of 
the  common  people.  As  he  himself 
says:  He  listened  to  the  speech  of  the 
mother  at  home,  the  children  in  the 
street,  the  men  and  women  in  the  mar- 
ket, the  butcher  and  tradesmen  in  the 
shop,  and  looked  them  on  the  mouth 
when  speaking  to  discover  the  most  in- 
telligible terms.  His  native  genius  for 
poetry  and  music  enabled  him  to  pro- 
duce the  rhythm  and  melody  of  Hebrew 
poetry  and  prose.  But  his  crowning 
qualification  was  his  intuitive  insight 
and  spiritual  sympathy  with  the  con- 
tents of  the  Bible.  He  himself  says  in 
his  letter  to  Link,  ^*A  good  translation 
requires  a  truly  devout,  faithful,  dili- 
gent, experienced  and  practical  heart." 

PROGRESS  OF  LUTHER^S  VERSION* 

While  a  student  at  the  University  of 
Erfurt,  Luther,  for  the  first  time,  met 


Luther   Discovers   tiie   Latin    Bible   in   the   Univer- 
sity   LiBRAK>     AT    Erfurt,    1505. 


Lutheran  Version  of  the  Bible.      101 

with  a  copy  of  the  Bible.  It  was  the 
Latin  Vulgate.  In  this  book  he  found 
great  delight,  and  from  this  time  forth 
made  it  his  chief  study.  It  taught  him 
theology,  and  nourished  his  spiritual 
life.  He  next  applied  himself  to  the 
acquisition  of  the  original  languages  for 
the  purpose  of  its  better  understanding. 
His  first  attempt  at  translating  he  made 
with  portions  of  the  Psalm^s,  w4iich  he 
published  in  March,  1517.  After  this  he 
translated  other  sections,  some  taken 
from  the  New  Testament  and  others 
from  the  Old.  All  these  he  accompanied 
by  popular  comments.  This  work  w^as 
so  well  done,  and  met  with  such  favor 
that  his  friends  urged  him  to  translate 
the  whole  Bible,  which  accordingly  he 
resolved  to  do. 

With  the  needed  leisure  on  hand  at 
the  Wartburg,  he  began  with  the  New 
Testament,  entering  on  his  task  in  De- 
cember, 1521,  and  finishing  his  labor  in 
March,  1522.    Returning  to  Wittenberg 


102  History  of  the 

about  the  same  time,  he  applied  himself 
to  its  thorough  revision,  employing  for 
the  purpose  Melanchthon  as  his  assist- 
ant. 

Sturz  of  Erfurt  was  consulted  about 
coins  and  measures.  The  crown  jewels, 
through  Spalatin's  intervention,  were 
borrowed,  in  order  that  a  better  con- 
ception of  the  precious  stones  described 
in  the  book  of  Revelation  might  be 
formed.  The  translation  was  then  hur- 
ried through  the  press,  and  made  its  ap- 
pearance in  1522.  The  first  edition  ap- 
peared without  the  name  of  its  author. 
The  title  of  it  vv^as:  Das  Neue  Testa- 
ment, Deutsch,  Wittenberg.  It  had 
wood-cuts  by  the  elder  Cranach,  one  at 
the  beginning  of  each  book,  and  twenty- 
one  in  the  Apocalypse.  It  retained  the 
division  into  chapters  of  the  Latin  Bi- 
ble, originally  devised  by  Cardinal 
Hugo.  The  division  of  chapters  into 
verses  was  not  yet  known.  It  did  not 
come  into  use  until  1555,  and  therefore 


Lutheran  Version  of  the  Bible.      103 

does  not  appear  in  this,  and  any  of  Lu- 
ther's editions  published  during  his  life- 
time. Luther  changed  the  order  of  the 
epistles,  in  which  order  his  version  dif- 
fers from  the  English.  A  month  later  a 
second  edition  was  required,  and  made 
its  appearance,  which  contained  many 
corrections  and  improvements.  After 
completing  his  translation  of  the  New 
Testament  Luther  at  once  proceeded  to 
the  more  difficult  task  of  translating  the 
Old  Testament,  and  published  it  in 
parts,  as  they  were  ready.  In  spite  of 
munerous  interruptions,  the  Pentateuch 
was  completed  within  three  months 
from  the  publication  of  the  New  Testa- 
ment, and  appeared  at  the  beginning  of 
the  next  year.  In  1524  two  parts  of  the 
work  were  published,  the  former  com- 
prising the  historical  books,  and  the  lat- 
ter. Job,  the  Psalms,  and  the  so-called 
writings  of  Solomon.  Other  important 
engagements  frequently  intervening  de- 
layed the  completion  of  the  Canonical 


104  History  of  the 

books  until  1532,  and  the  Apocrypha  un- 
til 1534,  when  the  first  edition  of  the 
complete  translation  was  published. 

COLLEGIUM  PUBLICUM. 

As  the  work  progressed  Luther 
founded  a  Collegium  Publicum,  or  Bi- 
ble Club,  which  was  made  up  of  himself 
and  a  number  of  his  learned  friends  and 
associates.  Of  this  company  Mathesius 
speaks  as  follows :  ' '  This  is  one  of  the 
greatest  miracles  which  our  Lord  has 
caused  to  be  performed,  by  Dr.  Martin 
Luther  before  the  end  of  the  world,  that 
he  giveth  us  Germans  a  very  beautiful 
version  of  the  Bible,  and  explaineth  to 
us  his  eternal  divine  nature,  and  his 
merciful  will,  in  good  intelligible  Ger- 
man words.'' 

^^When  the  whole  German  Bible  had 
been  completed.  Dr.  Luther  began  anew, 
to  revise  it  with  great  zeal,  industry  and 
prayer.     And  as  the  Son  of  God  had 


Luther's    Publicum    Coli.egii^m   or    Bip.le   Ci.ub,   1533. 


Lutheran  Version  of  the  Bible.     105 

promised,  tliat  where  two  or  three  were 
gathered  together  in  his  name,  he  would 
be  in  the  midst  of  them,  he  caused  a 
Sanhedrim,  as  it  were,  of  the  best  people 
then  about  him,  to  assemble  weekly,  for 
a  few  hours  after  supper  at  his  house, 
namely,  Dr.  Bugenhagen,  Dr.  Justus 
Jonas,  Dr.  Kreuziger,  Melanchthon,  Au- 
rogallus,  and  also  George  Rorer,  the  cor- 
rector. These  were  frequently  joined 
by  strange  doctors,  and  other  learned 
men.  Dr.  Bernhard  Ziegier,  Dr.  For- 
stenius  and  others." 

^^  After  our  doctor  had  looked  through 
the  published  Bible,  and  consulted  Jews 
and  foreign  philologists,  and  had  in- 
quired among  old  German  persons  for 
fitting  German  words,  he  joined  the 
above  assembly  with  his  Latin  and  New 
German  Bible.  He  had  also  the  He- 
brew text  always  with  him.  Melanch- 
thon brought  the  Greek  text.  Dr.  Kreuz- 
iger, both  the  Hebrew  and  Chaldee  Bi- 
bles.   The  professors  had  several  tables 


106  History  of  the 

besides  them,  and  Dr.  Pommer  had  also 
a  Latin  text  before  him.  Everyone  had 
previously  prepared  himself  by  study- 
ing the  text.  Then  Luther  as  president 
proposed  a  passage  and  collected  the 
votes,  and  heard  what  each  one  had  to 
say  on  it,  according  to  the  peculiarity 
of  the  language,  and  the  interpretation 
of  the  old  doctors. ' ' 

Often  the  work  became  tedious,  days 
being  spent  upon  a  few  lines.  Job  being 
particularly  difficult.  Sometimes  they 
scarcely  mastered  three  lines  of  this 
book  in  four  days,  and  hunted  two,  three 
and  four  weeks  for  one  word. 

It  is  a  cause  of  regret  that  no  record 
has  been  kept  of  the  discussions  of  this 
remarkable  company.  Mathesius,  who 
evidently  speaks  from  personal  knowl- 
edge, tells  us,  that  wonderfully  beautiful 
and  instructive  speeches  were  made. 

At  last  the  whole  Bible,  including  the 
Apocrypha,  as  books  not  equal  to  the 
Holy  Scriptures,  yet  useful  and  good  to 


Lutheran  Version  of  the  Bible,      107 

read,  was  completed  in  1533,  and  pub- 
lished in  1534,  with  numerous  wood- 
cuts. Meanwhile  the  New  Testament 
was  printed  and  circulated,  by  various 
unauthorized  persons  in  numerous  edi- 
tions. Some  sixteen  of  these  irrespon- 
sible editions  appeared  in  a  few  years. 
The}^  were  full  of  errors,  which  caused 
Luther  to  utter  loud  complaints.  He 
continued  unceasingly  to  amend  and  im- 
prove his  translation.  He  corrected  er- 
rors, improved  the  uncouth  orthog- 
raphy, purged  the  vocabulary  of  ob- 
scure and  ignoble  words,  and  made  the 
whole  more  symmetrical  and  melodious. 
He  prepared  five  original  editions  or  re- 
censions of  the  whole  Bible,  the  last  one 
in  1545,  the  year  before  his  death. 

EDITIONS  AND  RECENSIONS, 

The  printed  text  of  Luther  did  not 
long  remain  in  the  condition  in  which 
it  came  from  his  hands.    In  that  regard 


108  History  of  the 

it  met  with  the  fate  of  the  older  trans- 
lations, the  Itala  and  the  Vulgate.  It 
passed  through  innumerable  changes, 
some  of  which  were  improvements,  and 
others  misimprovements.  Obsolete 
words  were  removed,  the  inflexions  and 
orthography  were  modernized,  the  di- 
vision into  verses  was  introduced,  the 
spurious  clause  of  the  three  witnesses 
was  added  (I.  John  5:7),  and  the  third 
and  fourth  books  of  Ezra,  and  the  third 
book  of  Maccabees  were  likewise  added 
to  the  Apocrypha.  Other  changes  be- 
sides these  were  made,  some  for  better 
and  some  for  worse.  Gradually  many 
recensions  came  into  use,  differing  from 
one  another  in  various  minor  points. 
The  most  carefully  made  of  these  was 
that  of  the  Canstein  Bible  Institute,  of 
which  we  will  speak  in  detail  on  a  sub- 
sequent page. 


Lutheran  Version  of  the  Bible.      109 

THE  SUCCESS  OF  LUTHER^S  BIBLE. 

Luther's  Bible  met  with  a  most  en- 
thusiastic reception,  and  proved  a  great 
and  effectual  help  to  the  Reformation. 
In  ducal  Saxony,  in  Bavaria,  and  in 
Austria,  its  sale  was  strictly  prohibited 
by  the  ruling  heads  of  these  countries. 
But  even  here  its  spread  could  not  be 
arrested.  The  people  everywhere 
wanted  Luther's  Bible.  Hans  Luft,  a 
Wittenberg  publisher,  in  forty  years, 
from  1534  to  1574  sold  about  one  hmi- 
dred  thousand  copies,  which  was  an 
enormous  nrnnber  for  that  age.  It  was 
read  by  millions.  The  actual  number 
sold  is  beyond  estimate,  and  the  effects 
of  its  reading  were  marvelous.  To  this 
fact  even  the  adversaries  of  the  Refor- 
mation bear  testimony.  Cochlaeus,  the 
zealous  champion  of  Romanism,  and 
bitter  opponent  of  the  Reformation, 
complainingly  cries  out,  that  Luther's 
Testament  was  so  much  multiplied  and 


110  History  of  the 

spread  by  printers,  that  even  tailors 
and  shoemakers,  yea  even  women  and 
ignorant  persons,  who  had  accepted  the 
Lutheran  gospel,  and  could  read  a  little 
German,  studied  it  with  the  greatest 
avidity  as  the  fountain  of  all  truth. 
Some,  he  says,  committed  it  to  memory, 
and  carried  it  about  them  in  their  bos- 
oms. In  a  few  months,  he  asserts,  such 
people  deemed  themselves  so  learned 
that  they  were  not  ashamed  to  dispute 
about  faith  and  the  gospel,  and  this  they 
did  not  only  with  Catholic  laymen,  but 
even  with  priests  and  monks,  and  with 
doctors  of  divhiity,  and  he  owns,  that 
they  did  it  successfully. 

ROMAN  EFFORTS  AT  TRANSLATING. 

Owing  to  the  success  of  Luther  ^s  Bi- 
ble, and  their  o^m  loss  in  prestige  and 
influence  as  a  consequence,  the  Papists 
found  themselves  forced  in  self-defense 
to   issue   rival   translations.      One   by 


Lutheran  Version  of  the  Bible.      Ill 

Emser  in  1527,  another  by  Dietenberger 
in  1534,  and  still  another  by  Eck  in 
1537.  These  translations  were  accom- 
panied by  annotations.  They  slavishly 
conformed  to  the  Vulgate,  were  stiff 
and  heavy,  and  were  in  large  part  lit- 
eral transcriptions  of  Luther's  transla- 
tion. Luther  could  in  truth  say :  ' '  The 
Papists  steal  my  German,  of  which  they 
knew  little  before,  and  they  do  not 
thank  me  for  it,  but  rather  use  it 
against  me.''  These  early  Catholic  ver- 
sions have  long  since  gone  out  of  use 
even  in  the  Roman  church,  while  Lu- 
ther's still  lives. 


CRITICAL  ESTIMATE  OF  LUTHER'S 
VERSION* 

Luther's  version  is  to  be  judged  by 
the  time  in  which,  and  the  circum- 
stances under  which,  it  was  made.  Let 
us  look  at  these  for  a  moment.  At  that 
time  no  good  grammars,  dictionaries, 


112  History  of  the 

and  concordances  existed.  Hebrew  and 
Greek  scliolarsliip  was  in  a  crude  state. 
The  German  language  was  in  a  barbar- 
ous condition.  Luther  had  to  meet  all 
these  and  other  defects.  Is  it  any  won- 
der he  felt  much  discouraged.  On  Jan- 
uary 13,  1522,  he  writes  to  his  friend 
Amsdorf,  that  he  had  undertaken  a 
work  which  was  beyond  his  power,  and 
that  he  could  not  succeed  in  it  without 
the  assistance  of  his  friends.  The  great 
difficulty  he  met  with  was  in  Job  and 
the  Hebrew  Prophets.  He  did  not 
know  how  to  make  them  speak  in  the 
barbarous  German  tongue.  Walch  re- 
ports him  as  saying :  Ach  Gott,  wie  ein 
gross  und  verdriesslich  Werk  ist  es,  die 
hebraeischen  Schreiber  su  zwingen 
deutsch  zu  reden.  Wie  straeuben  sie 
sich,  und  woUen  ihre  hebraeische  Art 
gar  nicht  verlassen,  und  dem  groben 
Deutschen  nachfolgen,  gleich  als  wenn 
eine  Nachtigall  soUte  ihre  liebliche  Me- 
lodien  verlassen  und  dem  Kukuk  nach- 


Lutheran  Version  of  the  Bible.      113 

singen.  He  also  jocosely  remarked, 
that  Job  would  have  become  more  impa- 
tient at  the  blunders  of  his  translators 
than  at  the  long  speeches  of  his  miser- 
able comforters.  There  is  this  also  to 
be  added,  that  with  all  his  labors  and 
perplexities,  Luther  made  no  pecuniary 
gains.  While  publishers  and  printers 
made  fortunes  by  the  sale  of  his  Bible, 
he  himself  never  received  nor  asked  a 
copper  for  this  great  work  of  his  life. 

The  Hebrew  text  was  in  fairly  good 
condition,  but  not  so  the  Greek.  The 
science  of  textual  criticism  was  not  yet 
born.  The  materials  for  it  were  not 
yet  collected  from  the  manuscripts,  an- 
cient versions  and  patristic  quotations. 
Luther  had  to  use  the  first  printed  edi^ 
tions,  chiefly  those  by  Erasmus.  He 
had  no  access  to  manuscripts,  the  most 
important  of  which  were  not  yet  even 
discovered.  They  did  not  become 
available  until  the  middle  of  the  nine- 
teenth century.     As  for  biblical  geog- 


114  History  of  the 

raphy  and  archaeology,  they  were  yet 
in  their  infancy.  Many  names  and 
phrases  could  not  be  understood  at  all. 
That  under  these  circumstances  a 
number  of  mistakes  and  inaccuracies 
should  appear  in  Luther's  version, 
should  not  surprise  us.  The  only  won- 
der is  that  they  are  as  few  as  they  are. 
They  occur  in  greatest  number  in  Job 
and  the  Prophets,  who  present  even  to 
the  most  advanced  Hebrew  scholars  of 
our  day  many  unsolved  problems  of 
text  and  reading. 

THE  TEXTS  USED  BY  LUTHER* 

On  this  part  of  our  subject  our  chief 
authorities  are  Drs.  Schalff  and  Krauth, 
both  divines  of  vast  erudition.  Dr. 
Scha:ff  is  authority  for  the  following: 
^^The  basis  of  Luther's  version  of  the 
Old  Testament  was  what  is  known  as 
the  Massoretic  text,  as  published  by 
G^rson    Ben    Mosbeh    at    Breccia    in 


Liutheran  Version  of  the  Bible.      116 

1494.  He  used  also  the  Septuagint,  the 
Vulgate  of  Jerome,  the  Latin  transla- 
tion of  the  Dominican  Sanctes  Paguini 
of  Lucca,  1527,  also  the  Glossa  Ordin- 
aria  by  the  Franciscan,  Sebastian  Min- 
ister of  1534.  The  basis  for  the  New 
Testament  was  the  second  edition  of 
Erasmus,  published  at  Basel,  Switzer- 
land, in  1519.  The  first  edition  of  the 
Greek  Testament  by  Erasmus  had  ap- 
peared in  1516,  just  one  year  before  the 
Reformation.  He  derived  his  text  from 
a  few  mediaeval  manuscripts.  The  sec- 
ond edition,  though  much  more  correct 
than  the  first,  is  disfigured  by  a  large 
nmuber  of  typographical  errors.  He 
laid  the  foundation  for  the  Textus  Re- 
ceptus,  which  was  brought  into  its  ma- 
ture shape  by  Robert  Stephans,  in  his 
Royal  Edition  of  1550,  and  which  main- 
tained the  supremacy  till  Lachman  in- 
augurated the  adoption  of  the  older 
textual  basis,  1831." 

Dr.  Krauth  makes  these  statements: 


116  History  of  the 

^*  Luther  did  not  translate  from  the  Vul- 
gate, though  he  used  that  ancient  and 
important  translation  with  sound  judg- 
ment. It  was  of  right  the  most  impor- 
tant aid,  next  to  the  sacred  text  itself. 
He  used  the  Basel  edition  of  1519. 

There  is  no  decisive  reason  for  think- 
ing that  Luther  used  any  manuscripts 
of  the  Greek  text.  The  Greek  texts 
which  had  been  published  or  at  least 
printed  when  Luther  was  engaged  in 
his  translation  of  the  N^ew  Testament 
were : 

1.  The  Complutensian,  folio,  print- 
ed in  1514,  but  not  published  till  1522- 
1523.  Doubts  have  been  expressed  as 
to  Luther  having  used  the  Complutens- 
ian, to  which  some  force  is  given  by  his 
nowhere  citing  it.  Yet  Melanchthon, 
his  great  coworker  in  the  Kew  Testa- 
ment, cites  it  during  Luther's  lifetime. 
The  copy,  which  was  sent  to  the  Elector 
of  Saxony,  was  placed  in  the  library  at 
Wittenberg,  whence  it  was  removed  two 


r 

c 

H 

ffi 

w 

?: 

ffi 

o 

C 

in 

n 

5 

in 

H 

^ 

» 

H 

> 

H 

^ 

fc 

C/5 

z 

r 

c= 

> 

K 

H 

?^ 

r. 

O 

:^ 

^ 

o 

i-r' 

•^ 

K 

H 

?^ 

a 

K 

w 

r 

td 

c 

*— ( 

w 

s 

r 

B 

w 

?: 

h- ' 

n 

Or 

o 

ro 

:^ 

1 

H 

H- » 

H^ 

C^ 

2 

CO 

c 

CO 

R 

C 

> 

Z 

O 

^ 

5 

,  ^lii^-: 

Si 

iff 

II 

iilll 

iiiHI  111 

1 

»yn  :  -  v;-iv  \ri.J. 

p 

lljs'fiQ 

^^TH'^r;, 

i 

w 
w 

B 

•4' 

III 

'iii 
ill 

I'll! 

ijii  III 

il'<V.|'    1 

ilifi 

! 

I  'i 

■  i 

ilunl.l 

ill' 

1 

1 

1 
1 

1 

'■■'■•;,•■ 

ft 
.  ■/ 

f  ii; 

:     '    II 

l'  • 

■P3 

"fill 

1" 

Lutheran  Version  of  the  Bible.      117 

years  after  Luther's  death  to  Jena.  His 
not  citing  it  is  no  evidence  over  against 
the  irresistible  presumption  of  the  case ; 
and  Krell,  1664,  asserts  positively  that 
Luther  was  familiar  with  the  Complu- 
tensian  polyglot. 

II.  The  first  Erasmus,  1516,  folio. 

III.  The  Aldine,  1518,  folio.  The 
Septuagint  in  tliis  edition  was  used  by 
Luther. 

ly.  The  second  Erasmus,  1519, 
folio. 

V.  The  Gerbelius,  based  on  the  sec- 
ond Erasmus,  and  the  Aldine,  1521- 
1524. 

yi.     The  third  Erasmus,  1522,  folio. 

It  is  evident  that  Luther's  choice  was 
confined,  at  first,  to  the  editions  of 
Erasmus  2-3.  The  Complutensian  and 
Erasmus'  third  edition  appeared  too 
late  for  his  earlier  New  Testament 
translation. ' ' 

In  making  his  translation  Luther  did 
not  slavishly  follow  the  Greek  of  Eras- 


118  History  of  the 

mus.  In  many  places  he  conformed  to 
the  Latin  Vulgate  which  is  based  on  an 
older  text.  He  also  omitted,  even  in 
his  last  edition,  the  famous  interpola- 
tion of  the  heavenly  witnesses  in  I  John 
5 :7,  which  Erasmus  inserted  in  his  third 
edition,  1522,  against  his  better  judg- 
ment. 

THE  GOMPLUTENSIAN  BIBLK 

This  is  a  polyglot  in  six  volumes, 
folio,  so  called  from  Complutum,  the 
Latin  name  of  Alcala  in  Spain,  where 
it  was  printed.  It  contained  the  orig- 
inal texts,  the  Vulgate,  the  Septuagint, 
the  Targum  of  Onkelos  on  the  Pen- 
tateuch, the  last  two  with  a  literal  Latin 
translation.  It  was  projected  by  Car- 
dinal Ximenes,  a  Spaniard,  who  spent 
about  $150,000  upon  it.  It  was  com- 
menced in  1502,  printed  between  1514 
and  1517,  and  authorized  by  Leo  X  in 
1520,  but  apparently  not  circulated  be- 


Lutheran  Version  of  the  Bihle.      119 

fore  1522.  Only  600  copies  were  print- 
ed, wliicli  were  sold  at  $20.00  per  copy. 
A  copy  purchased  for  Union  Theolog- 
ical Seminary  in  New  York  City  in  1883 
cost  about  $750. 

THE  GERMAN  RENDERING* 

The  German  language  was  in 
wretched  condition.  It  was  divided  in- 
to as  many  dialects  as  there  were  states, 
in  fact,  each  town  and  village  had  its 
own  dialect,  and  knew  no  other.  None 
of  these  served  as  a  bond  of  union.  The 
North  German  did  not  understand  the 
South  German,  nor  the  South  German 
the  North  German.  Every  author 
wrote  in  the  dialect  of  his  own  district. 
As  to  orthography,  there  was  no  estab- 
lished rule  or  authority,  everybody  did 
as  seemed  good  in  his  sight.  In  his  pre- 
face to  his  version  of  the  Pentateuch, 
1523,  Luther  says :  '^I  have  so  far  read 
no  book  or  letter,  in  which  the  German 


120  History  of  the 

language  is  properly  handled.  Nobody 
seems  to  care  sufficiently  for  it.  Every 
preacher  thinks  he  has  the  right  to 
change  it  at  pleasure,  and  to  invent  new 
terms."  Owing  to  this  confusion  schol- 
ars preferred  to  write  in  Latin,  and 
when  they  attempted  to  use  the  mother 
tongue,  as  some  did  occasionally,  they 
failed  to  express  themselves  with  be- 
coming ease  and  grace.  Luther  in  this 
effected  a  great  change.  He  brought  or- 
der out  of  confusion,  and  made  modern 
High  German  the  bool^  language.  As 
the  basis  of  it  he  chose  the  Saxon  dia- 
lect, which  was  in  use  at  the  Saxon 
Court,  and  in  diplomatic  intercourse  be- 
tween the  emperor  and  the  estates.  But 
it  was  bureaucratic,  stiff,  heavy,  in- 
volved, dragging,  and  unwieldy.  Lu- 
ther changed  and  popularized  it  and 
adapted  it  to  theology  and  religion.  He 
enriched  it  with  the  vocabulary  of  the 
German  Mystics,  chroniclers  and  poets. 
He  rendered  it  intelligible  to  the  com- 


Lutheran  Version  of  the  Bible.      121 

mon  people  of  all  parts  of  German}^ 
The  words  he  adapted  to  the  capacity  of 
the  people,  so  as  to  be  understood  by 
the  unlearned  as  well  as  the  learned. 
He  was  more  concerned  for  the  sub- 
stance than  the  form.  The  Hebrew 
shekel  he  turned  into  silberling;  the 
Greek  drachma  and  Roman  denarius 
into  the  German  groschen;  the  quad- 
rams  into  heller ;  the  Hebrew  measures 
into  sche:ffel,  malter,  tonne,  and  cent- 
ner. The  Roman  centurion  he  turned 
into  hauptman.  All  these  are  terms 
which  do  not  strictly  represent  the  orig- 
inal, but  they  are  terms  which  are  un- 
derstood by  a  German. 

He  took  still  greater  liberty  with  the 
Apocrypha,  to  make  them  more  easy 
and  pleasant  reading.  Popular  phrases 
he  also  used,  as 

Geld   und   Gut,   Land   und   Leute, 
Rath    und  That,    Stecken    und    Stab. 

Foreign  words,  which  were  then  in- 


122  History  of  the 

truding  into  the  German  language,  like 
a  flood,  he  entirely  discarded.  He  also 
coined  words,  to  enrich  the  language. 
Erasmus  Albert  called  him  the  German 
Cicero,  who  not  only  reformed  religion, 
but  also  the  German  language. 

Luther's  version  is  an  idiomatic  re- 
production of  the  Bible  in  the  very 
spirit  of  the  Bible.  It  brings  out  the 
whole  wealth,  force  and  beauty  of  the 
German  language.  It  is  the  first  Ger- 
man classic,  as  King  James  version  is 
the  first  English  classic.  It  anticipated 
the  golden  age  of  German  literature,  as 
represented  by  such  authors  as  Lessing, 
Herder,  Goethe  and  Schiller,  all  of 
whom  are  Protestants,  and  are  more  or 
less  indebted  to  Luther's  Bible  for  their 
style. 

THE  PROTESTANT  SPIRIT  OF 
LUTHER'S  VERSION- 

Dr.  Emser,  Secretary  to  Duke  George 
of  Saxony,  and  a  man  of  some  learning. 


Lutheran  Version  of  the  Bible.      123 

but  a  bitter  opponent  of  the  Reforma- 
tion, charges  Luther  with  many  linguis- 
tic bkniders  and  heretical  falsifications. 
He  published  a  new  translation  of  the 
New  Testament  in  order  to  correct  Lu- 
ther's errors.  In  this  he  proceeds  from 
the  basis  of  the  Latin  Vulgate,  as  if  it 
were  a  perfectly  correct  version,  which 
it  is  not.  The  errors  which  he  names 
are  mostly  deviations  from  the  Vulgate, 
v/hile  the  points  from  which  Luther  de- 
viates are  errors,  being  themselves  de- 
viations from  the  originals.  Emser's 
translation  is  largely  a  literal  acknowl- 
edgement of  Luther's  ability  and  the 
correctness  of  his  rendering. 

That  Luther's  version  has  in  it  a 
shade  and  tone  of  Protestant  doctrine, 
is  a  fact  that  admits  of  no  question. 
The  most  important  example  of  dog- 
matic influence  in  his  version  is  the  fa- 
mous interpolation  of  the  word, 
^^ alone,"  in  Romans  3:28.  By  the  in- 
sertion of  this  word,  he  meant  to  em- 


124  History  of  the 

phasize  the  Scriptural  doctrine  of  justi- 
fication by  faith  without  works,  over 
against  the  Roman  doctrine  of  justifica- 
tion by  faith  and  works.  The  anti-Ro- 
man and  Protestant  character  of  Lu- 
ther's New  Testament  is  further  set 
forth  in  his  prefaces  to  the  different 
books.  He  draws  a  distinction  between 
chief  and  less  important  books.  He 
passes  an  unfavorable  judgment  on 
James,  on  the  plea,  that  it  has  no  evan- 
gelical character.  He  places  the  books 
in  a  new  order  according  to  their  teach- 
ing on  the  subject  of  justification  in  the 
Protestant  sense.  He  sees  in  the  Ro- 
man Church  the  Babylonian  harlot  of 
the  Apocalypse  and  in  the  Pope  the 
Antichrist.  In  the  illustrations  by 
Cranach,  which  accompany  Luther's 
New  Testament,  the  harlot  is  represent- 
ed as  riding  on  a  dragon,  with  the  triple 
crown  upon  her  head. 


Lutheran  Yersion  of  the  Bible.      125 

THE  PAPISTS^  REPLY  TO  LUTHER* 

The  Roman  Catholics  in  their  trans- 
lations used  the  same  liberty  of  mar- 
ginal notes  and  pictorial  illustrations  in 
favor  of  their  doctrines  and  the  usages 
of  their  church.  Emser,  e.  g.,  protests 
on  the  margin  against  Luther's 
^' alone/'  that  Paul  by  the  words,  ^'with- 
out the  works  of  the  law/'  does  not 
mean  that  man  is  saved  by  faith  alone 
without  good  works,  but  only  without 
the  works  of  the  ceremonial  law,  as  cir- 
cumcision and  other  Jewish  ceremonies. 
He  confines  the  law  to  ritual  law,  and 
works  to  Jewish  works;  whereas,  ac- 
cording to  the  best  modern  commen- 
tators, Paul  means  the  whole  law,  mor- 
al as  well  as  ceremonial,  and  all  works 
commanded  by  the  law.  And  yet,  even 
in  the  same  chapter,  and  throughout  the 
whole  epistle  to  the  Romans,  Emser 
copies  verbatim  Luther's  version  for 
whole  verses  and  sections,  and  where  he 


126  History  of  the 

departs  from  Ms  language,  it  is  gener- 
ally for  the  worse.  The  other  Catholic 
translators  do  the  same  thing.  They, 
follow  Luther's  language  closely,  and 
vet  treat  him  with  abuse  in  their  notes. 

SALE  OF  LUTHER^S  NEW  TESTAMENT* 

Of  Luther's  first  edition  of  the  New 
Testament,  September  22,  1522,  five 
thousand  copies  were  printed  and  sold 
before  December  of  the  same  vear,  at 
the  high  price  of  one  guilder  and  a  half, 
equal  to  the  purchasing  value  of  four 
dollars  of  our  own  money.  Hans  Luft 
printed  one  hundred  thousand  copies 
on  his  press  in  Wittenberg.  Adam 
Petri  of  Basel  published  seven  editions 
between  1522  and  1525.  Thomas  Wolff 
of  the  same  city,  during  the  same  time, 
published  five  editions.  The  precious 
little  volume  made  its  way  with  light- 
ning speed  into  the  palaces  of  the 
princes,  the  castles  of  the  nobles,  the 


Lutheran  Version  of  the  Bible.     127 

convents  of  the  monks,  the  studies  of 
the  priests,  the  houses  of  the  citizens, 
and  the  huts  of  the  peasants.  Mechan- 
ics, peasants,  and  women  carried  their 
New  Testament  with  them  to  the  field 
and  the  shop,  and  there,  as  well  as  at 
their  homes,  read  and  reread  it,  until 
they  had  fully  mastered  its  contents, 
and  dared  to  dispute  with  priests  and 
doctors  of  theology  about  the  gospel. 
This  was  the  complaint  of  Cochlaeus,  a 
Roman  priest,  and  a  wrathful  adver- 
sary of  the  Reformers  and  the  Refor- 
mation, whom  Luther  dubs  ^^Rotz- 
loeffel"  —  Snotty  Spoony. 

LUTHER  ON  THE  EPISTLE  OF  ST. 
JAMES. 

On  this  subject  we  will  let  two  dis- 
tinguished authors  speak,  the  one  a 
Presbyterian,  the  other  a  Lutheran. 

Dr.  Philip  Schaft,  Presbyterian, 
says :  ' '  The  charge  that  Luther  adapted 


128  History  of  the 

the  translation  to  his  theological  opin- 
ion has  become  traditional  in  the  Roman 
Catholic  Church,  and  is  repeated  again 
and  again  by  her  controversialists  and 
historians.  The  same  objection  has 
been  raised  against  the  authorized  En- 
glish version.  In  both  cases  the  charge 
has  some  foundation,  but  no  more  than 
the  countercharge  which  may  be 
brought  against  the  Roman  Catholic 
version." 

^^The  most  important  example  of 
dogmatic  influence  on  Luther's  version 
is  the  famous  interpolation  of  the 
^ alone',  in  Romans  3,  28,  ^Allein  durch 
den  Glauben',  by  which  he  intended  to 
emphasize  his  solifidian  doctrine  of  jus- 
tification on  the  plea,  that  the  German 
idiom  required  the  insertion  for  the 
sake  of  clearness.  But  he  thereby 
brought  Paul  into  direct  verbal  con- 
flict with  James,  who  says,  2:24,  By 
works  a  man  is  justified  and  not  by  faith 
only. 


Lutheran  Version  of  the  Bible.      129 

It  is  well  kno^vn  that  Luther  deemed 
it  impossible  to  harmonize  the  two  apos- 
tles in  this  article,  and  characterized  the 
epistle  of  James  as  an  epistle  of  straw, 
because  it  had  no  evangelical  character. 

Dr.  Henry  Eyster  Jacobs,  Lutheran, 
takes  up  the  case  in  his  life  of  Luther, 
and  says  of  it:  '^Luther's  free  lan- 
guage concerning  the  epistle  of  James, 
in  the  form  in  which  it  is  generally 
quoted,  omits  the  contrast  which  he 
makes  with  what  he  regards  as  the  chief 
books  of  the  New  Testament.  'His 
words  are.  The  Gospel  of  St.  John  and 
his  first  epistle,  the  epistles  of  St.  Paul, 
especially  those  to  the  Romans,  Gala- 
tians,  and  Ephesians,  and  the  first 
epistle  of  St.  Peter,  are  the  books  that 
instruct  us  concerning  Christ,  and  teach 
us  all  that  is  necessary  and  salutary  for 
us  to  know,  even  though  you  should 
never  see  or  hear  another  book.  In  com- 
parison with  these,  therefore,  the  epis- 
tle of  James  is  actually  nothing  but  an 


130  History  of  the 

epistle  of  straw,  for  it  has  nothing  what- 
ever of  Gospel.' 

Luther's  thought  is  this:  If  James 
be  arrayed  against  Paul,  and  the  doc- 
trine of  works  be  made  the  standard  to 
which  the  doctrine  of  faith  must  be  con- 
formed, then,  however,  useful  in  its 
proper  sphere,  the  epistle  of  James  be- 
comes one  of  straw.  He  interpreted 
the  Old  Testament  by  the  New,  the  law 
by  the  gospel.  A  single  word  of  the 
gospel  was  to  him  the  end  of  all  con- 
troversy." 

Luther,  it  seems,  was  never  fully  con- 
vinced of  the  divine  inspiration  of  the 
epistle  of  St.  James.  We  will  here  in- 
sert what  he  says  of  the  latter : 

^^The  epistle  of  St.  James  I  do  not 
consider  as  the  writing  of  an  apostle  at 
all  for  these  reasons :  First,  that  it  as- 
cribes justification  to  works  in  direct 
contradiction  to  Paul  and  the  other 
sacred  writers.     Secondly,  that  it  un- 


Lutheran  Version  of  the  Bible.      131 

dertakes  to  teach  others,  and  yet,  in  all 
this  long  teaching,  does  not  allude  to  the 
sufferings,  resurrection  and  spirit  of 
Christ.  He  mentions  Christ  several 
times,  yet  teaches  nothing  about  him, 
but  only  speaks  of  faith  in  God  gener- 
ally. Now  the  foundation  of  a  true 
Apostle  is  to  preach  Christ's  sufferings, 
resurrection  and  office  and  to  lay  the 
foundation  of  faith  in  the  same.  But 
this  James  enjoins  only  the  law  and 
works,  and  so  confuses  the  one  with  the 
other,  that  it  appears  to  me  as  if  some 
good,  pious  man  had  caught  a  few  say- 
ings from  the  disciples  of  the  Apostles, 
and  had  committed  these  to  paper.  Or, 
it  may  have  been  written  by  another 
from  his  preaching.  To  sum  up,  he 
wishes  to  oppose  those  who  rely  on  faith 
without  works,  and  proving  too  weak 
for  his  task,  he  attempts  to  enforce  by 
the  law  what  the  Apostles  effect  by  the 
drawing  of  love.     I  cannot,  therefore, 


132  History  of  the 

place  this  epistle  among  the  really  chief 
books,  but  will  prevent  no  one  from 
judging  of  it  as  he  pleases,  for  many 
good  texts  are  found  in  it.'' 


Carl  H.  von  Can  stein. 


CHAPTER  VIIL 


THE  GANSTEIN  BIBLE  INSTITUTE. 

Carl  Hildabrand  von  Canstein,  1667 
—1719,  was  the  son  of  God-fearing  par- 
ents, and  descendant  of  one  of  the  old- 
est and  most  distinguished  families  of 
the  German  nobility.  He  was  himself 
a  man  of  earnest  and  deep  piety,  of  bril- 
liant intellect,  of  highly  finished  educa- 
tion, and  of  unblemished  moral  char- 
acter. He  was,  moreover,  as  highly  fa- 
vored in  body  as  he  was  distinguished  in 
mind,  of  noble  figure  and  bearing  and 
handsome  countenance.  After  a  brief 
and  successful  military  career  in  the 
service  of  the  electoral  house  of  Bran- 
denburg, he  retired  to  private  life,  and 
chose  the  city  of  Berlin  as  his  perma- 
nent residence.  Here  he  met  Spener, 
the  far-famed  preacher  and  founder  of 

133 


134  History  of  the 

the  pietistic  school,  to  whom  he  became 
sincerely  attached,  and  with  whom  he 
lived  in  close  communion  and  on  terms 
of  the  warmest  friendship,  until  his 
useful  life  was  closed  in  death. 

From  this  association  Canstein  drew 
rich  nourishment  for  his  spiritual  life, 
and  from  thence  received  the  impulse  to 
devote  his  leisure  hours  to  the  study  of 
theology.  In  this  science  he  acquired 
eminent  ability.  Through  Spener  he 
also  became  acquainted  with  the  theo- 
logical faculty  of  Halle,  especially  with 
August  Herman  Francke,  one  of  the 
professors,  a  learned  man,  an  eloquent, 
evangelical,  pulpit  orator,  and  specially 
celebrated  for  his  philanthropic  enter- 
prises. 

Thus  was  formed  a  union  between 
three  men,  whose  names  have  become 
immortal  in  the  Protestant  church  of 
Europe  and  America.  The  Church,  at 
this  time,  stood  in  need  of  men  of  their 
endowmentis.      A    great    and    glorious 


Lutheran  Version  of  the  Bible.     136 

work  was  waiting  to  be  done,  and,  as 
has  frequently  happened  at  such  times. 
Providence  raised  up  the  laborers  at 
the  opportune  moment,  endowed  them 
by  nature,  and  qualified  them  by  educa- 
tion and  training  with  fitness  for  their 
task.  It  is  no  sacrilege  to  say,  it  was  a 
union  like  that  of  Moses  and  Aaron,  of 
Paul  and  Timothy,  of  Luther  and 
Melanchthon. 

Francke,  since  the  year  1702,  had 
been  engaged,  in  a  modest  way,  in  print- 
ing the  Scriptures,  with  the  special  ob- 
ject of  selling  them  at  a  low  price,  in 
order  to  bring  them  within  the  reach 
of  the  poorer  classes.  This  was  a  noble 
aim,  and  as  such  it  at  once  met  with  the 
hearty  approval  of  the  benevolent  Can- 
stem.  They  formed  a  partnership  in 
the  beneficent  enterprise.  The  first 
edition  of  the  New  Testament  issued 
from  their  press  made  its  appearance  in 
1712,  and  was  sold  at  the  low  price  of 
five  cents  per  copy.    Not  satisfied  with 


136  History  of  the 

the  limited  extent  of  their  endeavors, 
Canstein  determined  on  more  extensive 
operations.  He  conceived  the  plan  of 
founding  a  Bible  Society  as  a  perma- 
nent institution.  To  this  end  he  applied 
to  his  wealthy  and  benevolently  dis- 
posed friends  and  acquaintances  for  pe- 
cuniary contributions.  His  efforts  in 
this  direction  were  crowned  with  suc- 
cess. By  the  year  1716  he  had  gathered 
together  the  sum  of  5735  dollars,  of 
which,  however,  no  less  than  1000  dol- 
lars had  been  contributed  by  himself. 
With  this  amount  as  a  fund  was  laid 
the  foundation  and  was  put  in  success- 
ful operation  the  world  renowned  Can- 
stein Bible  Institute.  Organized  in 
connection  with  the  Orphans'  Home  of 
Halle,  it  still  retains  its  seat  at  this 
place. 

This  institution,  now  near  its  second 
centennial,  is  an  imperishable  honor, 
not  only  to  Canstem,  its  founder,  but  to 
the  entire  German-speaking  evangelical 


Lutheran  Version  of  the  Bible.      137 

church.  It  is  an  institution,  moreover, 
that  has  proven  itself  a  blessing  to  mil- 
lions. Successful  from  the  beginning, 
it  has  continued  growing  and  expand- 
ing until  now  it  has  attained  to  immense 
proportions.  During  the  life-time  of 
the  good  nobleman  there  were  issued 
one  hundred  thousand  New  Testaments, 
and  forty  thousand  entire  Bibles.  By 
the  year  1873,  the  year  of  our  latest  sta- 
tistics, the  number  of  w^hole  Bibles  had 
run  up  to  near  six  millions  of  copies, 
truly  a  marvelous  result  of  an  enter- 
prise taking  its  start  from  so  humble  a 
beginning. 

The  Stade  Bible  was  chosen  as  the 
text  of  the  first  Canstein  issue.  This 
w^as  an  improved  edition  of  the  Luth- 
eran version,  and  a  work  of  great  merit. 
It  had  been  prepared  by  Dr.  Johann 
Dieckmann,  1647-1720,  Superintendent 
of  Bremen  and  Werden.  Every  subse- 
quent issue  was  carefully  revised  and 
amended.    In  1775  the  orthography  was 


138  History  of  the 

corrected  so  as  to  bring  it  in  harmony 
with  modern  usage,  and  marginal  notes 
were  added  in  explanation  of  all  at- 
tempts at  improvement  of  the  Lutheran 
version.  The  Canstein  Bible  is  on  all 
sides  acknowledged  to  be  the  greatest 
success.  It  conforms  most  closely  to  the 
original  texts  and  is  worded  in  good 
modern  German,  and  understood  by  all, 
the  humble  as  well  as  the  learned.  Ow- 
ing to  its  superiority,  it  has  been 
adopted  as  the  Textus  Receptus,  and  is 
published  and  circulated,  as  the  stand- 
ard German  Bible,  by  the  various  Bible 
societies,  both  of  Europe  and  America. 


CHAPTER  IX^ 


REVISION  OF  THE  LUTHERAN 
VERSION- 

There  have  ever  been  among  the  Lu- 
theran scholars  those  who  have  stren- 
uously opposed  every  attempt  at  revis- 
ion of  Luther's  Bible.  Luther,  himself, 
however,  never  considered  his  version 
as  a  final  and  perfect  production.  He 
continued  at  the  labor  of  changing  and 
improving  it  to  the  last  year  of  his  life. 
His  first  edition  left  the  press  in  1534. 
He  issued  a  second  and  amended  edition 
in  1535,  a  third  in  1536.  A  fourth, 
thoroughly  revised  edition,  appeared  in 
1540.  His  last  and  fifth  edition  he  is- 
sued in  1545,  one  year  before  his  de- 
cease, which  was  printed  under  his  per- 
sonal supervision.  Had  Luther's  life 
been    prolonged,    there    remains    little 

139 


140  History  of  the 

doubt,  that  lie  would  have  continued 
the  process  of  change  and  improvement 
as  long  as  life  endured. 

Other  men,  after  the  Reformer's  de- 
parture from  the  present  world,  recog- 
nized the  same  necessitv  that  had 
prompted  him,  and  took  up  the  work 
Avhere  he  had  left  it.  Thus,  as  early  as 
the  year  1547,  one  year  after  the  great 
man's  death,  George  Rorer,  who  had 
been  his  friend  and  associate  during  his 
life-time,  brought  out  a  new  edition, 
with  some  alterations.  Strict  Luther- 
ans, especially  Melchior  Goeze,  de- 
nounced Rorer's  changes  as  corrup- 
tions, made  in  the  interest  of  Melanch- 
thonianism,  but  Dr.  Moenkenberg,  him- 
self an  orthodox  Lutheran,  and  no  Me- 
lanchthonian,  has  proven  the  charges 
groundless.  The  changes  made  were 
called  for  and  proper. 

Others  indulged  in  the  same  practice, 
thereby  causing  great  dissatisfaction  in 
certain  quarters.    To  put  a  stop  to  all 


Lutheran  Version  of  the  Bihie.     141 

such  efforts,  and  to  produce  an  edition 
that  should  be  universally  accepted  as 
the  standard  Lutheran  Bible,  the  Elec- 
tor George  of  Saxony  authorized  Coel- 
estinus  to  undertake  a  textual  revision, 
which  resulted  in  an  edition  which  ap- 
peared in  1581,  and  w^hich  conformed 
closely  to  Luther's  edition  of  1545,  but 
no  one,  outside  of  Saxony,  paid  any  at- 
tention to  it,  and  the  practice  com- 
plained of  went  on  as  before.  Editions, 
varying  more  or  less  from  one  another, 
grew  in  number  until  there  were  count- 
ed a  dozen  of  them.  Of  these  the  most 
meritorious  was  that  of  Johann  Dieck- 
mann,  wMch  appeared  in  1690,  and  is 
known  as  the  Stade-Bibel.  To  this  suc- 
ceeded, and  was  in  close  harmony  with 
it,  the  Bible  published  by  the  Canstein 
Bible  Institute.  The  latter  has  success- 
fully reached  and  maintained  the  pre- 
eminence over  all  others,  up  to  the  pres- 
ent time. 
Meanwhile  the  critical  study  of  the 


142  History  of  the 

Scriptures  went  on.  Learned  men 
claimed  to  have  discovered  that  Luther 
had  not  always  given  the  correct  rend- 
ering of  the  original  text,  and  that  for 
this  and  other  reasons  a  thorough  re- 
vision of  his  Bible  was  urgently  re- 
quired. A.  H.  Francke,  who,  among 
others,  was  of  this  opinion,  attempted 
to  answer  this  demand,  and  entered 
upon  the  task  of  a  complete  revision. 
But  he  had  not  advanced  far  in  his  un- 
dertaking, when  there  arose  a  storm  of 
opposition,  on  the  part  of  the  stricter 
Lutherans,  that  raged  so  furiously 
around  his  head,  that  he  was  only  too 
glad  to  abandon  his  design.  And  yet 
even  so  orthodox  a  Lutheran  as  Claus 
Harms  was  in  favor  of  revision,  claim- 
ing that  a  revision  should  be  made,  once, 
at  least,  in  every  hundred  years.  Oth- 
ers, at  a  somewhat  later  period,  under- 
took to  do  what  Francke  had  begun,  but 
which  he  found  himself  constrained  to 
leave  unfinished.    The  Patrician,  John 


Lutheran  Version  of  the  Bible.     143 

Frederick  Meyer,  1772-1849,  a  citizen  of 
Frankfurt-on-the-Main,  and  a  man  of 
mystical  theosophic  tendencies,  publish- 
ed a  revised  Bible,  the  first  edition  of 
which  appeared  in  1819,  and  the  last  in 
1855.  Rudolph  Stier,  of  blessed  mem- 
ory, 1800-1862,  Superintendent  of  Eis- 
leben,  made  a  like  attempt,  his  first  edi- 
tion appearing  in  Bielefeld  in  1860,  and 
his  third  in  1867.  Both  authors  have  in- 
serted too  many  modern  terms,  and 
have  retained  too  many  archaic.  Their 
revisions  were  not  destitute  of  merit, 
but  were,  nevertheless,  received  with 
scant  favor. 

In  spite  of  all  the  opposition,  and  of 
all  the  discouragements  encountered, 
the  demand  for  revision  did  not  cease  to 
make  itself  heard.  On  the  contrary,  it 
grew  louder  and  more  urgent  as  time 
passed.  Then,  when  the  discussion  was 
at  its  full  height,  about  the  middle  of 
the  last  century,  fortunately  for  the  ad- 
vocates of  a  change,   events  occurred 


144  History  of  the 

which  greatly  changed  the  aspect  of  af- 
fairs. There  were  then  discovered  two 
manuscripts  which  shed  new  light  on 
the  subject.  These  were  the  Codex  Va- 
ticanus,  and  the  Codex  Sinaiticus,  the 
two  oldest,  and  the  two  most  authorita- 
tive manuscripts  extant.  Both  of  them 
date  back  to  the  fourth  century,  and  it 
is  even  possible  that  the  parts  of  the 
New  Testament  which  they  contain  may 
have  been  copied  from  the  originals  of 
the  inspired  writers.  There  are  in  ex- 
istence at  this  time  some  seventeen  hun- 
dred Greek  manuscripts  of  the  Scrip- 
tures, by  collating  and  comparing  which 
the  long  recognized  Textus  Receptus 
was  formed.  But  these  are  all  of  a  later 
date  than  these  two,  and  not  one  of 
them  is  complete. 

The  Codex  Yaticanus  was  brought 
from  Asia  Minor  to  Rome  about  the 
year  1448,  and  was  deposited  in  the 
Vatican  library,  where  it  lay  unknown 
and  neglected  until  the  nineteenth  cen- 


Lutheran  Version  of  the  Bible.     145 

tury.  Not  until  the  year  1868  did  it  be- 
come fully  known.  In  that  year  steps 
were  taken  to  publish  for  general  use  a 
thoroughly  prepared  copy  of  it.  It  does 
not  contain  the  entire  Bible.  Each 
testament  wants  a  few  books. 

The  Codex  Sinaiticus  was  discovered 
by  Professor  Tischendorf  of  Leipsic 
University  in  the  library  of  the  St. 
Katherine  Monastery  upon  Mt.  Sinai  in 
Arabia,  where  it  had  reposed  unknown 
for  many  hundred  years.  Tischendorf 
made  three  visits  to  this  monastery  in 
search  of  the  priceless  document,  the 
first  in  1844,  the  second  in  1853,  and  the 
third  in  1859.  On  his  first  visit  he  dis- 
covered a  part  of  the  manuscript.  His 
second  visit  proved  fruitless.  But  on 
his  third  visit  he  found  all  that  was 
wanting.  With  the  exception  of  a  few 
books  of  the  Old  Testament,  the  manu- 
script proved  the  Bible  complete.  Af- 
ter some  negotiation  with  the  monks,  he 
obtained  permission  to  carry  it  with 

10 


146  History  of  the 

him  on  his  return  journey  to  Germany. 
Here  the  announcement  of  its  find  at 
once  created  a  soulstirring  interest.  All 
Europe  resounded  with  exclamations  of 
joy  over  the  recover}^  of  so  inestimable 
a  treasure.  The  Emperor  of  Russia, 
Alexander  II,  had  prepared  and  print- 
ed, at  his  own  expense,  a  f  ac-simile  edi- 
tion of  it,  consisting  of  300  copies,  and 
gotten  up  in  magnificent  style  in  four 
folio  volumes,  which  he  distributed  gra- 
tuitously here  and  there,  especialh^  in 
university  libraries.  Some  twelve 
copies  of  this  edition  have  found  their 
way  to  our  own  country,  one  of  which 
is  in  the  Seminarv  librarv  at  Gettvs- 
burg.  Pa. 

The  information  obtained  from  these 
two  manuscripts  made  it  necessary  to 
reconstruct  the  Textus  Receptus,  and 
furnished  an  additional  reason  for  the 
revision  of  the  Lutheran  Bible.  The  ob- 
jection to  revision,  though  not  altogeth- 
er subdued,  grew  less  violent  and  per- 


LfUtheran  Versimi  of  the  Bible.     147 

sistent.  An  official  revision  was  there- 
fore ordered  at  last,  and  was  inaugur- 
ated in  1868  by  the  Eisenach  Evangel- 
ical Church  Conference.  Its  version  re- 
ceived the  name  of  Probebibel.  It  was 
prepared  with  extraordinary  care  by  a 
commission,  consisting  of  the  ablest 
biblical  scholars  of  Germany.  The 
work  was  severely  criticized  by  opposite 
schools.  For  some  the  changes  which 
had  been  made  were  too  many,  while  for 
others  they  were  too  few. 

In  1886  it  was  committed  for  final  ac- 
tion to  the  Eisenach  Conference,  and  re- 
ceived its  approval.  The  revision  is 
extremely  conservative,  and,  in  compar- 
ison with  the  latest  revision  of  the  En- 
glish version,  made  but  few  changes. 
While  it  was  generally  approved,  it  did 
not  meet  with  the  same  enthusiasm  and 
favor  accorded  to  the  English  version 
of  1885,  owing,  no  doubt,  to  the  more 
sober  and  conservative  character  of  the 
German  nation,  and  their  extreme  love 


148  History  of  the 

and  veneration  for  the  unaltered  Bible 
of  Luther. 

We  deem  it  in  order  here  to  state,  that 
the  first  Bible  ever  published  in  our 
own  country,  was  the  German  Bible  of 
Luther,  which  made  its  appearance  in 
1774,  in  quarto  form,  from  the  press  of 
Christopher  Saur  of  Germantown,  Pa., 
copies  of  which  may  be  found  all  over 
the  States,  in  the  dAvellings  of  the  de- 
scendants of  the  early  German  immi- 
grants. 


CHAPTER  X. 


LUTHER^S  DEFENSE  OF  HIS 

TRANSLATION, 

Under  date  of  September  12,  1530, 
Luther  addressed  a  letter  to  Ms  friend, 
Wenceslaus  Link  of  Nuremberg,  in  an- 
swer to  an  inquiry  which,  the  latter  had 
previously  directed  to  him.  The  im- 
portance and  interest  which  attach  to 
this  letter  arise  mainly  from  the  fact, 
that  therein  Luther  details  the  manner 
in  which  he  proceeded  in  his  work  of 
translating  the  sacred  Scriptures,  more 
especially  those  of  the  New  Testament ; 
also  from  the  further  fact,  that  in  it  he 
states  his  reasons  for  the  insertion  of 
the  word,  ^^ alone,"  into  Romans  3:28, 
for  which  act  he  had  been  denounced  as 
a  falsifier  of  God's  Word,  on  the  part 
of    Roman    Catholic    writers,    among 

149 


150  History  of  the 

whom  were  specially  prominent  Coch- 
laeus,  Emser  and  Eck. 

The  translation  does  not  give  the  let- 
ter in  full.  A  few  passages,  and  some 
words,  which  we  thought  could  be  omit- 
ted without  weakening  the  force  of  the 
argument,  or  interrupting  the  thread  of 
the  narrative  have  been  dropped. 
Those  who  are  interested  to  know  this 
letter  in  its  completeness,  and  in  its 
original  style  of  composition,  will  find  it 
in  the  Erlangen  edition  of  Luther's 
German  works.  Volume  65,  page  102- 
123. 

the  letter. 

Reverend  and  Dear  Friend  : 

Grace  and  peace  in  Christ  Jesus. 
Your  writing,  together  with  the  ques- 
tion concerning  which  you  desire  a 
statement  of  my  opinion,  has  been  re- 
ceived. You  want  to  know  why,  in  Rom. 
3:28,  Arbitramus  hominem  justificari 
ex  fide  absque  operibus,  I  have  trans- 


Lutheran  Version  of  the  Bible.     161 

lated;  '^Wir  halten  dass  der  Mensch 
gerecht  werde  oline  des  Gesetzes  werke, 
allein  durch  den  Glauben."  We  con- 
clude that  a  man  is  justified  by  faith 
^' alone",  without  the  deeds  of  the  law. 
And  in  addition  vou  state,  how  the 
Papists  busy  themselves,  out  of  all 
measure  of  reason  and  decency,  because 
the  word  sola,  ^^ alone",  is  not  found  in 
Paul's  text,  and  that  such  an  addition 
to  God's  Word  is  not  to  be  permitted. 

You  ma}^  answer  the  Papists  from 
me,  that  had  I,  Dr.  Luther,  known  that 
the  Papist  crowd  were  so  skilled,  that 
thev  were  able  to  translate  correctly  a 
chapter  of  the  Scriptures,  I  would  have 
humbly  condescended  to  request  their 
aid  and  co-operation  in  the  translation 
of  the  New  Testament.  But  since  I 
knew,  that  not  one  of  them  understands 
how  to  translate,  or  how  to  speak  Ger- 
man correctly,  I  have  saved  them  and 
me  that  trouble.  This  also  appears 
clear,  that  they  learn  to  speak  and  write 


152  History  of  the 

German  from  my  translations  and  from 
my  German.  They  steal  my  language, 
of  which  hitherto  they  have  known  so 
little,  and  for  this  they  give  me  no 
thanks,  but  on  the  contrary  use  it  in 
writing  against  me.  I  am  well  pleased 
to  see  that  they  appreciate  my  language. 
It  is  to  me  a  real  pleasure  to  know,  that 
I  have  taught  these  ungrateful  pupils  of 
mine,  who  are  my  enemies,  how  to 
speak. 

You  may  further  say,  that  in  trans- 
lating the  New  Testament  I  have  acted 
conscientiously  and  to  the  best  of  my 
ability.  I  compel  no  one  to  read  it. 
That  I  leave  to  everyone's  will  and 
choice.  I  have  done  my  work  to  serve 
those  who  are  not  able  to  produce  any- 
thing better.  No  one  is  forbidden  to 
surpass  me,  and  produce  a  superior 
translation.  Whoever  will  not  read  my 
testament  is  permitted  to  leave  it  alone. 
No  constraint  is  offered  anyone.  It  is 
my  translation  and  my  testament,  and 


Lutheran  Version  of  the  Bible.     163 

that  and  no  more  it  shall  ever  remain. 
Even  if  I  had  failed  in  my  work— of 
which  I  am  not  conscious,  for  I  would 
not  knowingly  mistranslate  a  single  let- 
ter—I would  not  allow  the  Papists  to 
be  my  judges. 

I  know  well  what  skill,  what  mind, 
what  diligence,  and  what  wisdom  are  re- 
quired, to  be  a  good  translator.  My  op- 
ponents have  never  made  trial  of  it. 
The  saying  is :  The  man  who  builds  his 
house  by  the  roadside  will  have  many  to 
tender  him  their  advice.  So  it  happens 
to  me.  There  are  those  who,  though 
they  have  never  been  able  to  speak  cor- 
rectly, to  say  nothing  of  translating, 
want  to  be  my  instructors,  and  I  shall 
be  their  disciple.  If  I  had  asked  them 
how  the  first  two  words  of  St.  Matthew's 
Gospel,  Liber  Generationis,  were  to  be 
rendered  into  German,  not  one  of  them 
would  have  known  what  to  answer  me. 
This  was  also  the  lot  of  Jerome,  when 
he  made  his  translation  of  the  Bible. 


154  History  of  the 

The  whole  world  then  set  up  as  his  crit- 
ics and  teachers.  Thev  knew  all,  he 
alone  it  was  who  knew  nothing,  while 
the  truth  was  that  not  one  of  these  wise- 
acres was  worthy  to  undo  the  good 
man's  shoelatchets.  Therefore  great 
forbearance  is  requisite  to  him  who  at- 
tempts to  accomplish  some  public  good. 
The  world  will  always  want  to  be  master 
of  wisdom,  and  lead  the  horse  by  the 
tail.  She  knows  all,  but  is  able  to  ac- 
complish nothing.  That  has  ever  been, 
and  ever  will  be  her  way. 

I  would  like  to  see  the  Papist  who 
would  undertake  to  translate  an  epistle 
of  St.  Paul,  or  a  book  of  the  Prophets, 
without  making  use  of  Luther's  German 
and  of  Luther's  translation.  A  pretty 
German  and  German  rendering  we 
would  see.  We  have  seen  how  the  Dres- 
den scribbler  (Emser)  has  mastered  my 
New  Testament,  and  acknowledges  it  to 
be  sweet  and  good,  and  was  aware  that 
he  could  not  improve  on  it,  omitted  my 


Lutheran  Version  of  the  Bible.     156 

introduction,  my  gloss,  and  my  name, 
substituted  for  them  liis  own  introduc- 
tion, his  own  gloss,  and  his  own  name, 
and  now  is  selling  my  New  Testament 
as  his  under  his  own  name.  Dear  me, 
how  it  grieved  me  that  his  master  (Duke 
George  of  Saxony)  condemned  Luther's 
Testament,  and  indicted  the  reading  of 
it  and  at  the  same  time  enjoined  the 
reading  of  the  scribbler's  testament, 
which  in  truth  is  the  same  that  was 
made  by  Luther.  And  lest  anyone 
might  think  I  did  not  speak  truth,  let 
him  take  in  hand  and  compare  both 
testaments,  mine  and  the  scribbler's 
and  he  will  discover  who  is  the  trans- 
lator. What  in  a  few  places,  he  has 
patched  and  changed,  though  I  don't 
like  it,  I  will  let  pass. 

It  does  me  no  harm,  as  far  as  the  text 
is  concerned,  and  for  that  reason  I  have 
not  cared  to  say  anything  against  it. 
But  I  have  been  greatly  amused  at  the 
shrewd  proceeding  to  abuse,  condemn 


156  History  of  the 

and  prohibit  my  New  Testament,  be- 
cause sent  forth  under  my  name,  and  to 
recommend  its  reading  when  it  comes 
out  under  the  name  of  another.  But  let 
the  world  judge  what  kind  of  behavior 
it  is,  to  abuse  and  defame  a  man's  book 
and  then  go  and  steal  it  and  send  it 
forth  under  one's  own  name,  and  by  this 
means  seek  to  gain  profit  and  win  popu- 
larity. Meanwhile  it  is  enough  for  me, 
and  I  am  happy  to  know,  that  my  labor 
is  made  useful  through  the  agency  of 
my  enemies,  and  that  my  book  is  read, 
though  in  the  name  of  another.  Look- 
ing at  these  effects,  how  can  I  seek  re- 
venge, or  even  take  offense. 

To  come  back  to  my  subject.  When- 
ever a  Papist  goes  to  make  much  ado 
over  the  word,  ^'sola,"  ''alone/'  answer 
him:  Dr.  Martin  Luther  will  have  it 
so.  We  will  not  be  pupils  nor  disciples 
of  Papists,  but  their  teachers  and 
judges. 

While  thus  you  may  answer  these  ad- 


Lutheran  Version  of  the  Bible.     157 

versaries  of  mine,  to  you  and  to  our 
people  I  will  give  the  reason,  why  I 
have  used  the  word  ^^sola'',  '^ alone",  in 
Romans  3 :28.  It  has  been  my  endeavor 
in  my  translation  to  give  the  sense  in 
pure  and  plain  German.  And  it  has 
happened  to  us  oftentimes,  that  we  have 
sought  for  one  word,  two,  three  and  four 
weeks,  and  even  then  have  failed  to  find 
it.  In  our  labor  on  Job,  myself,  Me- 
lanchthon,  and  Aurogallus,  have  some- 
times in  four  days  scarcely  finished 
three  lines.  Since  now  the  translation 
is  made,  one  can  in  as  many  minutes  let 
his  eye  run  over  three  and  four  pages 
without  any  difficulty.  Walking  along 
as  over  a  smooth  path,  one  does  not  per- 
ceive what  stumps  and  boulders  have 
had  to  be  moved  out  of  the  way,  and 
how  we  have  sweated  and  been  perplex- 
ed over  our  task.  It  is  easy  ploughing, 
when  the  field  is  clean,  but  to  cut  down 
trees,  pull  up  stum^ps,  and  remove  rocks, 
and  thus  prepare  the  groimd,  is  a  labor, 


158  History  of  the 

which  is  neither  eas}^  nor  pleasant  to 
perform,  and  therefore  no  one  cares  to 
undertake  it.  Ours  is  an  ungrateful 
world.  God  himself  receives  but  little 
thanks,  though  he  has  given  us  the  sun, 
yea  heaven  and  earth,  and  sacrificed  his 
own  dear  Son  for  us. 

I  have  known  that  in  Romans  3 :28  the 
Latin  and  Greek  texts  have  not  the  word 
solum  or  sola.  The  Papists  have  no 
need  to  tell  me  that.  This  they  see,  but 
they  don't  see  that  it  is  implied  in  the 
text,  and  must  be  given  in  the  transla- 
tion, if  the  latter  shall  express  the  sense 
with  due  clearness  and  force.  My  ob- 
ject has  been  to  speak  German,  not  Lat- 
in and  Greek.  It  is  characteristic  of 
the  German  language,  when  two  things 
are  spoken  of,  the  one  of  which  is  de- 
nied and  the  other  af&rmed,  that  it  uses 
the  word,  ^* solum'',  '^ alone",  along  with 
the  word,  not,  or  none.  Let  me  illus- 
trate. Where  the  Latins  and  Greeks 
would  say;     The  farmer  brings  corn 


Lutheran  Version  of  the  Bible.     159 

and  no  money,  the  Germans  say:  The 
farmer  brings  corn  only  and  no  money. 

Greek:  I  have  now  no  money,  but 
corn. 

German :  I  have  now  no  money,  but 
corn  only. 

Greek :  I  have  eaten,  but  not  drunk- 
en. 

German:  I  have  eaten  only,  but  not 
drunken. 

In  these  expressions,  although  the 
Latin  and  the  Greek  do  not  do  it,  but 
the  German  does,  and  is  her  manner,  to 
add  the  word, ' '  alone, ' '  in  order  to  make 
the  word,  not,  or  none,  fuller  and  clear- 
er. Although  I  might  say:  The  farm- 
er brings  corn  and  no  money,  which 
Avould  be  correct  German,  yet  the  words, 
no  money,  express  the  idea  not  so  fully 
and  so  clearly  as  wheni  I  say:  The 
farmer  brings  corn  only,  and  no  money. 
The  word  only,  helps  the  word  no,  so 
much  that  the  whole  becomes  a  full  and 
clear  expression.    It  is  not  for  us  to 


160  History  of  the 

ask  the  letter  of  the  Latin  language  how 
to  speak  German,  as  these  Papists  do. 
But  it  behooves  us  rather  to  consult  the 
mother  in  the  home,  the  children  on  the 
street,  the  common  man  on  the  market 
place,  and  to  look  at  their  m.ouths  how 
they  talk,  and  shape  our  translations  by 
that.  It  is  then  that  they  will  under- 
stand us,  and  perceive  that  we  are 
speaking  German  to  them. 

But  why  say  more  in  answer  to  my 
detractors^  Would  I  assign  a  reason 
for  the  choice  of  all  mv  words  and  ideas, 
years  would  be  required  to  do  so.  What 
an  art,  what  labor,  and  what  weariness, 
there  is  in  making  translations,  I  have 
fully  experienced;  whereas  my  oppo- 
nents have  never  attempted  or  exper- 
ienced anj^thing  of  the  kind.  I  will  not 
therf ore  allow  them  to  act  as  my  critics 
and  censors.  Whoever  is  not  pleased 
with  my  work  can  leave  it  alone.  No 
thanks  to  him  who  takes  it  up  with  a 
mind  preoccupied  by  prejudice,  and  at- 


Lutheran  Version  of  the  Bible.      161 

tempts  to  offer  corrections  of  which  I 
do  not  approve.  If  any  correcting  is 
to  be  done,  I  want  to  do  it  myself. 
Where  I  don't  do  it  myself,  let  him 
leave  my  work  in  peace.  He  can  at- 
tempt whatever  seems  good  to  him, 
apart  from  my  labor,  and  do  his  work 
in  his  own  way,  and  may  he  have  a 
happy  time  of  it. 

I  can  say  with  a  good  conscience,  that 
in  my  work  of  translating,  I  have  ob- 
served the  utmost  faithfulness  and  ex- 
ercised the  severest  diligence,  and  never 
have  given  way  to  an  improper  thought. 
I  have  not  gained  by  it  a  single  copper, 
and  reaped  from  it  no  profit  whatever. 
I  have  not  thought  of  my  own  honor,  as 
God  my  Lord  knows.  The  labor  I  have 
performed  has  had  for  its  object,  to 
serve  the  dear  Christian  people,  and  to 
promote  the  honor  of  Him  who  lives 
above,  and  who  has  every  hour  of  my 
life  bestowed  on  me  so  much  good,  that 

had  I  done  a  thousand  times  more,  and 
11 


162  History  of  the 

wrought  with  a  thousand  times  greater 
diligence,  I  would  on  that  account  not 
have  been  worthy  of  life,  nor  of  the  en- 
joyment of  a  healthy  and  sound  eye- 
sight. All  I  have  and  all  I  am,  I  owe  to 
his  mercy  and  grace;  yea,  it  is  owing 
to  his  precious  blood  and  bitter  sweat. 
Therefore,  if  it  please  God,  all  shall  be 
devoted,  with  a  joyful  heart,  to  his 
honor.  Do  the  papal  writers  see  fit  to 
treat  me  with  abuse,  very  well,  so  be  it. 
Pious  Christians  will  honor  me  and 
their  Lord  Jesus  Christ.  I  shall  con- 
sider myself  richly  recompensed,  if  but 
one  solitary  Christian  soul  recognizes 
me  as  a  faithful  laborer.  It  would 
grieve  my  heart  indeed,  if  my  foes 
would  praise  me.  Their  abuse  of  me  I 
count  my  greatest  praise  and  my  high- 
est honor.  In  spite  of  them  I  am  a 
teacher  of  theology,  and  this  name  and 
office  they  shall  not  wrest  from  me  on 
this  side  of  the  day  of  judgment.  That 
I  know  right  well. 


Lutheran  Version  of  the  Bible.      163 

I  may  further  say,  I  have  not  trans- 
lated with  midue  freedom.  In  company 
with  my  assistants  I  have  aimed  with 
great  care  to  retain  tlie  letter  wherever 
it  was  possible.  I  have  preferred  rather 
to  make  the  German  give  way,  than  to 
depart  from  the  literal  sense.  Oh,  not 
every  one  has  the  gift  of  translating, 
as  the  foolish  papal  saints  imagine.  It 
requires  a  truly  pious,  faithful.  God- 
fearing, learned,  experienced  and  prac- 
tically Christian  heart.  Wherfore  I 
contend  that  no  false  Christian,  nor 
trifling  person,  is  fit  to  translate. 

So  much  about  translating  and  the 
characteristics  and  idiom  of  the  Ger- 
m.an  language.  And  now,  permit  me  to 
add,  that  I  have  not  exclusively  leaned 
on,  and  proceeded  according  to,  the 
idiomatic  characteristics  of  the  German 
language,  in  adding  '^ solum"  (allein) 
to  Romans  3 :28.  The  text  and  meaning 
of  the  Apostle  Paul  absolutely  demand 
this  addition.    For  there  he  treats  of  the 


164  History  of  the 

chief  article  of  the  Christian  faith,  viz., 
that  we  are  justified  by  faith  in  Jesus 
Christ,  without  the  works  of  the  law. 
VYork  can  supply  no  aid  to  justification. 
As  an  example  he  cites  the  case  of  Abra- 
ham, and  says,  that  he  was  justified 
without  the  deeds  of  the  law,  and  that 
even  the  highest  work,  which  at  that 
time  was  newly  commanded,  and  placed 
above  all  other  works  and  laws,  viz., 
circumcision,  could  be  of  no  service  to 
justification,  but  that  without  circum- 
cision and  without  all  works,  he  was  jus- 
tified through  faith,  as  he  says  in  Ro- 
mans 4:2,  *'If  Abraham  were  justified 
by  works,  he  had  whereof  to  glory,  but 
not  before  God.''  But  where  all  works 
are  excluded  there  the  meaning  must  be 
that  faith  alone  justifies.  And  hence  he 
who  will  speak  plainly  and  correctly  of 
such  exclusion  of  works,  is  obliged  to 
say,  that  faith  alone,  and  not  works,  jus- 
tifies.   The  nature  of  the  case  demands 


Lutheran  Version  of  the  Bible.     165 

this,  apart  from  the  requirements  of  the 
idiom  of  the  German  language. 

But  now  the  cry  is  raised,  ^^by  so 
speaking  offense  is  given,  and  people  are 
taught  that  they  need  do  no  good 
works."  Dear  me,  what  shall  we  say  to 
this  *?  Does  Paul  not  give  great  offense, 
when  instead  of  saying,  ^'By  faith 
alone,"  he  pours  it  out  much  heavier, 
and  knocks  the  bottom  clear  out  of  the 
barrel,  by  saying :  * '  Without  the  works 
of  the  law."  And  in  Galatians  2:16, 
^'ISTot  justified  by  the  works  of  the  law." 
And  the  like  more  in  other  parts  of  the 
Scriptures.  The  word,  ^' alone",  might 
be  given  a  place  among  the  gloss,  but  the 
phrase,  ^'without  the  works  of  the  law", 
is  so  coarse,  so  offensive,  and  so  shame- 
ful, that  a  gloss  can  be  of  no  service  to 
it.  How  much  more  will  the  people  be 
persuaded,  that  they  need  do  no  good 
works,  when  they  hear  it  preached  by 
an  Apostle,  '*No  works— without  works 
—not  through  works."    But  if  by  this 


166  History  of  the 

manner  no  offense  is  given,  why  should 
there  be  offense  given  by  saying,  *^By 
faith  alone." 

But  how  much  more  offensive  still  is 
it  that  Paul  does  not  merely  reject  or- 
dinary and  common  works,  but  the 
works  of  the  law,  the  moral  law  of  God. 
So  greatly  might  one  be  offended  at  this 
as  to  say,  that  the  law  is  there  con- 
demned and  pronounced  accursed,  and 
that  he  is  allowed  to  sin,  as  said  those 
spoken  of  in  Romans  3:8,  '^Let  us  do 
evil  that  good  may  come",  as  also  some 
of  the  rabble  are  saying  in  our  own 
time.  What  shall  we  say  then?  Shall 
we  reject  St.  Paul's  teaching  on  account 
of  its  effects,  or  speak  freely  and  boldly 
of  Faith?  We,  in  common  with  St. 
Paul,  desire  to  see  this  offense  taking, 
and  preach  so  forcibly  against  works 
and  in  favor  of  faith  alone,  for  no  other 
reason  than  this,  that  the  people  may 
take  offense,  stumble  and  fall,  that  they 
may  learn   and  realize,   that   through 


Lutheran  Version  of  the  Bible.     167 

good  works  they  are  not  made  righteous, 
but  through  Christ's  death  and  resur- 
rection only.  If  then  we  are  not  justi- 
fied by  good  works,  much  less  are  we 
justified  by  evil  works,  and  without  the 
law.  Therefore,  it  is  not  to  be  argued : 
Inasmuch  as  good  works  do  not  avail, 
evil  works  must  do  it,  no  more  than  that, 
because  the  sun  cannot  avail  a  blind 
man,  therefore  night  and  darkness  can 
do  it. 

It  does  amaze  me  that  there  has 
arisen  so  much  adverse  sentiment  over 
a  matter,  which  is  so  plainly  and  fully 
taught  in  the  holy  Scriptures.  Tell  me, 
are  Christ's  death  and  resurrection  our 
work?  No,  not  ours,  nor  the  work  of 
the  law.  Christ's  death  and  resurrec- 
tion alone  deliver  us  from  sin  and  ren- 
der us  righteous,  as  Paul  teaches  in  Ro- 
mans 4:25,  ^^Who  was  delivered  for  our 
offenses,  and  was  raised  again  for  our 
justification."  Tell  me  further,  what 
is  the  work  by  which  we  apprehend  and 


168  History  of  the 

retain  Christ's  death  and  resurrection '? 
It  can  be  by  no  external  act,  but  by 
faith  alone  within  the  heart.  This  alone, 
exclusively  and  alone,  without  all  works, 
apprehends  this  death  and  resurrec- 
tion, where  it  is  preached  through  the 
gospel. 

Why  then  this  raving  and  ranting, 
this  charging  with  heresy,  and  this 
burning  of  heretics,  when  the  fact  is 
manifest  and  clear,  that  faith  alone  ap- 
prehends Christ  and  the  resurrection, 
without  all  works,  and  that  this  death 
and  resurrection  are  our  life  and  our 
righteousness?  If  it  then  is  so  self- 
evident,  that  faith  alone  brings  and 
grants  us  life  and  righteousness,  why 
not  also  preach  and  publish  the  fact? 
It  is  not  held  to  be  heresy  to  believe,  that 
faith  alone  apprehends  Christ  and  gives 
life,  but  it  is  heresy  to  say  and  teach  so. 
Are  the  Papists  not  madmen  and  sense- 
less idiots?  The  matter  itself  they  ac- 
knowledge to  be  right,  but  openly  to 


Lutheran  Verslori  of  the  Bible.     169 

proclaim  it  they  denounce  as  wrong. 
Both  are  either  alike  right,  or  alike 
wrong,  and  must  stand  or  fall  together. 
Nor  am  I  the  first  and  only  man,  who 
asserts  that  faith  alone  justifies.  Am- 
brose, Augustine  and  others,  have  held 
and  taught  as  I  do.  And  whoever  reads 
and  understands  St.  Paul,  will  be  con- 
strained to  confess,  that  his  language  is 
too  plain  and  too  strong,  to  admit  of 
anv  works  whatever.  But  if  no  work, 
then  faith  alone.  Oh,  it  would  be  so 
pleasing,  so  gratifying,  and  acceptable 
a  doctrine  to  the  people,  that  not  by 
faith  alone,  but  by  their  OAvn  works,  they 
could  render  themselves  righteous. 
Much  it  would  be  to  them  to  know,  that 
not  Christ's  death  alone  delivers  from 
sin,  but  that  our  o\vn  works  also  are  in- 
strumental in  freeing  us  from  its  bonds. 
What  an  honor  it  would  be  to  Christ, 
think  you,  to  let  him  know  how  much  of 
help  we  can  be  to  him;  that  we  can  do 
the  same  that  he  can  do,  and  that  we 


170  History  of  the 

are  equally  as  good  and  as  miglity  as  he 
is. 

In  conclusion,  since  now  it  is  evident 
that  the  nature  of  the  subject  itself  de- 
mands to  say,  that  faith  alone  justifies 
and  saves;  since  the  characteristics  of 
our  German  tongue  also  require  us  so 
to  speak ;  since  we  have  the  example  of 
our  holy  church  fathers  to  the  same  ef- 
fect; and  since  the  peril  impends  over 
our  people,  that  they  will  continue 
trusting  to  works,  and  fail  to  come  to 
faith,  especially  at  this  time,  when  for 
ages  they  have  heard  taught  nothing  but 
a  false  work-righteousness,  and  are  only 
with  difficulty  convicted  of  its  errors ;  it 
is  not  only  right  and  proper,  but  ex- 
tremely needful,  that  we  announce  to 
them,  with  all  the  vigor  at  our  com- 
mand, and  in  the  plainest  and  fullest 
terms,  that  faith  alone,  without  the 
deeds  of  the  law,  justifies  and  saves. 

I  regret  that  I  have  not  also  added, 


Lutheran  Version  of  the  Bible.     171 

every  and  all,  so  as  to  read,  ^^  Without 
every  and  all  works  of  the  law. ' '  There- 
fore the  word  ^* alone",  shall  remain  in 
my  New  Testament,  and  though  all  the 
Papists  should  turn  raving  madmen, 
they  shall  not  banish  it  from  it.  Let 
this  suifice  as  an  answer  to  your  ques- 
tion. Later  if  the  Lord  permit,  I  will 
revert  to  the  same  subject  again,  in  my 
little  treatise  on  justification. 

Christ  Jesus  our  Lord  be  with  us  all. 
Amen. 

Martin  Luther, 
Your  loving  and  faithful  friend. 

There  is  no  doubt  that  Luther  had 
other  reasons  for  his  insertion  of  the 
word,  ''alone,"  besides  those  given  by 
him  in  this  letter.  He  aimed,  doubt- 
lessly to  place  his  emphatic  veto  on 
the  Roman  doctrine  of  justification  not 
by  faith  alone,  but  by  works  and  faith. 
And  the  Lutheran  Church  has  endorsed 


172  History  of  the 

bis  action.  She  retains  in  her  doctrinal 
statements  the  word  ^' alone'',  whenever 
she  speaks  of  justification  from  sin.  By 
faith  alone  man  is  justified,  is  her  most 
frequently  repeated  dogma,  and  her 
never  ceasing  theme  of  public  and  pri- 
vate instruction. 


Philip  Melanchthon. 


CHAPTER  XI. 


TESTIMONIALS  TO  THE  MERITS  OF 
LUTHER'S  VERSION. 

** Luther's  Version  of  the  Bible  is  a 
wonderful  monument  of  genius,  learn- 
ing and  piety,  and  may  be  regarded,  in 
a  secondary  sense,  as  inspired."  This 
is  the  judgment  and  conviction  of  one 
of  the  ablest  theologians  and  fairest 
critics  of  our  age  and  nation,  himself 
not  a  Lutheran.  This  also  is  the  almost 
universal  verdict  of  intelligent  Protes- 
tant believers  and  learned  authors,  from 
the  time  of  Luther  to  our  own.  That 
Romanists  should  hold  and  maintain 
views  the  reverse  of  this,  is  no  more  than 
what  we  should  look  for  from  that 
source.  But  that  outside  of  Rome  in 
professedly  Protestant  circles,  we 
should  meet  with  like  deprecating  sen- 

173 


174  History  of  the 

timents,  is  matter  of  wonder  and  amaze- 
ment. Yet  such  we  find  to  be  the  case. 
And  although  such  unfriendly  and  un- 
fair reflections  must  be  attributed  either 
to  ignorance,  or  else  to  prejudice,  or  to 
both ;  yet  since  they  do  appear,  we  deem 
it  proper  to  adduce  in  this  place  a  few 
of  the  many  expressions  in  commenda- 
tion of  this  version,  from  men  of  high- 
est authority  and  most  unquestioned 
veracity. 

REV.  CHARLES  PORTERFIELD  KRAUTH,  D.D.j 

LL.D. 

This  learned  theologian,  now  de- 
ceased, was  a  member  of  the  American 
Company  of  the  Old  Testament  revis- 
ers in  the  late  revision  of  King  James' 
English  Version;  was  one  of  the  most 
learned  writers  on  both  the  English  and 
the  German  Bible,  on  Martin  Luther, 
and  on  the  movements  of  the  16th  cen- 
tury, which  America  has  produced. 
This  man's  verdict  is:    *^The  Bible  of 


Lutheran  Version  of  the  Bible,     175 

Luther  is  an  acknowledged  masterpiece, 
one  of  the  wonders  of  the  intellectual 
world.  How  Luther  raised  what  seemed 
to  be  a  barbarous  jargon  into  a  language 
which,  in  flexible  beauty  and  power  of 
internal  combination,  has  no  parallel 
but  in  Greek,  and  in  massive  vigor  no 
superior,  but  the  English,  writers  of 
every  school,  Protestant  and  Romish 
alike,  have  loved  to  tell.  The  language 
of  Germany  has  grown  since  Luther, 
but  it  has  had  no  new  creation.  He  who 
takes  up  Luther's  Bible,  grasps  a  whole 
world  in  his  hand,  a  world  which  will 
perish  only  when  this  green  earth  itself 
shall  pass  away.  Luther's  facility  in 
the  choice  of  words,  the  exquisite  natur- 
alness and  clearness  in  the  construction 
of  his  sentences,  the  dignity,  force,  and 
vivacity  of  his  expressions,  his  afflu- 
ence of  phrase,  his  power  of  compres- 
sion, and  the  rhythmic  melody  of  his 
flow  of  style,  have  excited  an  admira- 


176  History  of  the 

tion,  to  which  witness  has  been  borne 
from  the  beginning  by  friend  and  foe. ' ' 

REV.  HENRY  EYSTER  JACOBS,  D.  D.;  LL.  D. 

This  master  of  theological  science  is 
at  this  time  perhaps  the  most  learned 
divine  in  the  Lutheran  Church  in  Amer- 
ica, a  prolific  writer  on  various  religious 
subjects,  and  the  author  of  the  best  life 
of  Luther  in  the  English  language.  He 
has  this  to  say  on  Luther's  translation: 
''With  little  apparatus,  not  even  con- 
sulting previous  translations  until  the 
first  draft  was  finished,  he  worked  with 
such  rapidity  that,  within  three  months, 
the  entire  New  Testament  was  in  idio- 
matic German  that  to  the'  present  hour 
is  the  wonder  of  all  literary  critics.  His 
entire  life  and  character  are  reflected  in 
the  style.  All  his  attainments  are  kept 
subordinate  to  the  one  object  of  pre- 
senting the  thoughts  of  Revelation  in 
language  that  is  simplest  and  most  in- 
telligible to  all  classes  of  people.     In 


Lutheran   Versiofi  of  the  Bible.      177 

giving  the  Germans  their  Bible,  he  gave 
the  German  language  a  permanent  liter- 
ary form.,  and  upon  the  basis  of  a  com- 
mon language,  replacing  the  confusion 
of  dialects  that  had  heretofore  been  cur- 
rent, unified  the  German  people.  His 
translation  is  not  only  a  rendering  of 
the  original  into  another  tongue,  it  is 
an  interpretation  that  touches  at  once 
the  heart  and  very  life  of  the  most  un- 
lettered as  well  as  the  most  learned. ' ' 

REV.  ADOLPH  SPAETH,  D.D.;  LL.  D. 

This  divine  and  teacher  of  theology 
is  master  equally  of  the  German  and 
English  languages,  and  a  thoroughly 
competent  authority  on  the  literary  and 
moral  influence  of  both  the  German  and 
the  English  versions  of  the  Bible.  He 
says:  *^The  two  great  Protestant 
tongues,  the  German  and  the  English, 
have  given  the  world  the  two  most  per- 
fect versions  of  the  Bible,  both  national 

12 


178  History  of  the 

works,  which  have  entered  into  the  very 
life,  the  thought,  the  language,  and  the 
literature  of  their  people.'' 

Of  Luther  and  his  translation.  Dr. 
Spaeth  further  says :  ' '  There  can  be  no 
dispute  as  to  Luther's  peculiar  fitness 
and  call  for  the  work  of  translating  the 
Word  of  God  into  his  native  tongue.  It 
is  true,  he  was  not  the  foremost  linguis- 
tic scholar  of  his  age.  There  were  men 
like  Erasmus,  Melanchthon  and  Reuch- 
lin,  who  surpassed  him  in  their  knowl- 
edge of  Greek  and  Hebrew.  But  Luther 
was  sufficiently  equipped  in  the  knowl- 
edge of  those  ancient  tongues,  to  see  for 
himself  and  to  form  an  independent 
judgment.  What  he  may  have  lacked 
in  philology,  was  compensated  by  his 
eminent  exegetical  feeling  or  instinct, 
and  by  the  fact  that  he  had  lived  him- 
self completely  into  the  spirit  of  the 
Bible.  His  devout  and  pious  soul  was 
in  true  affinity  with  the  Spirit  that  gave 
the  living  Word  of  God.     And  these 


Lutheran  Version  of  the  Bible.     179 

gifts  and  graces  as  a  translator  found 
their  channel  in  his  matchless  German. 
In  this  he  stood  supreme.  The  most 
German  of  Germans,  towering  above 
the  great,  yet  absolutely  one  of  the  peo- 
ple, he  possessed  such  a  mastery,  such 
an  ability  to  make  it  plastic  for  every 
end  of  language  as  belonged  to  no  other 
man  of  his  time,  to  no  other  man  since. 
His  German  style  is  the  model  of  the 
scholar,  the  idol  of  the  people. 

Luther's  marvelous  success  as  a  trans- 
lator is  all  the  more  remarkable,  if  we 
remember  that  at  the  time  when  he  un- 
dertook this  work  there  was  really  no 
recognized  standard  of  the  German  lan- 
guage. In  his  days,  the  language,  as  he 
complained,  was  broken  up  into  various 
dialects  without  one  having  preponder- 
ance over  the  other.  He  had  to  choose 
an  idiom  that  would  be  understood  by 
both  North  and  South  German.  This  he 
found  to  some  extent  in  the  diplomatic 
language  used  at  the  Saxon  Court.    Up 


180  History  of  the 

to  the  beginning  of  the  fourteenth  cen- 
tury, all  the  official  dociunents  had  to 
be  written  in  Latin.  Since  1330  Ger- 
man began  to  take  its  place,  chiefly 
through  the  influence  of  Ludwig  of  Ba- 
varia. In  Austria  Maximillian  intro- 
duced the  German  as  the  official  diplo- 
matic language.  In  Saxony  this  was 
done  by  the  Elector  Ernest,  Father  of 
Frederick  the  Wise.  But  for  the  pur- 
pose of  Luther's  translation,  the  choice 
of  the  Saxon  court  language  did  not,  af- 
ter all,  entirely  solve  the  difficult  prob- 
lem. The  religious  and  devotional  lan- 
guage of  the  German  Mystics,  and  the 
popular  idiom  of  the  common  people, 
ajnong  whom  he  was  living,  had  to  be 
consulted,  studied  and  assimilated,  in 
order  to  produce  that  pithy,  forcible, 
dignified,  and  classic  German,  of  which 
Martin  Luther  is  properly  and  justly 
called  the  author.  Luther  had  the  singu- 
lar pleasure  and  satisfaction  of  seeing 
his  work  on  the  New  Testament  trans- 


Lutheran  Version  of  the  Bible.      181 

lation  unscrupulously  appropriated  by 
Ms  enemies.  ^^Emser,"  he  said,  ^^took 
my  New  Testament  almost  word  for 
word  as  it  came  from  my  hand,  removed 
my  preface,  notes  and  name  from  it, 
added  his  name,  his  preface,  and  his 
notes  to  it,  and  sold  my  Testament  under 
his  name." 

JEAN  HENRI  MERLE  D^AUBIGNE,  D.  D. 

This  man  is  a  distinguished  historian 
and  holds  to  the  Calvinistic  faith.  In 
his  history  of  the  Reformation,  he  de- 
clares of  Luther's  Bible:  ^^The  new 
translation,  written  in  the  very  tone  of 
the  holy  writings,  in  a  language  yet  in 
its  youthful  vigor,  and  which  for  the 
first  timxC  displayed  its  great  beauties, 
interested,  charmed,  and  moved  the  low- 
est as  well  as  the  highest  ranks.  It  was 
a  national  work,  the  book  of  the  people, 
nay  m^ore,  it  was  in  very  truth  the  book 
of  God.  Even  opponents  could  not  re- 
fuse their  approbation  to  this  wonder- 


182  History  of  the 

ful  work,  and  some  indiscreet  friends 
of  the  Reformer,  impressed  by  the 
beauty  of  the  translation,  imagined  that 
they  could  recognize  in  it  a  second  in- 
spiration. This  version  served  more 
than  all  Luther's  writings  to  the  spread 
of  a  Christian  piety.  The  work  of  the 
16th  century  was  thus  placed  on  a 
foundation,  where  nothing  could  shake 
it.  The  Bible  given  to  the  people,  re- 
called the  mind  of  man,  which  had  been 
wandering  for  ages  in  the  tortuous 
labyrinth  of  scholasticism,  to  the  divine 
fountain  of  salvation.  Accordingly  the 
success  of  this  work  was  prodigious.  In 
a  short  time  every  copy  was  sold.  A 
second  edition  appeared  in  the  month 
of  December,  and  in  1533  seventeen  edi- 
tions had  been  printed  in  Wittenberg, 
thirteen  in  Augsburg,  twelve  at  Basel, 
one  at  Erfurt,  one  at  Grimma,  one  at 
Leipsic,  and  thirteen  at  Strasburg. 
Such  were  the  powerful  levers  that  up- 


Lutheran  Version  of  the  Bible.      183 

lifted  and  transformed  the  church  and 
the  world.'' 

DOCTOR  DOLLINGER. 

This  man  is  on  all  sides  recognized  as 
one  of  the  greatest,  if  not  the  greatest 
historian  who  has  ever  arisen  within  the 
Roman  church,  and  though  driven  out 
of  his  communion  by  excommunication 
on  account  of  his  opposition  to  the  de- 
cree of  papal  infallibility,  he  remained 
in  substance  a  Roman  Catholic  to  the 
end  of  his  life.  Whatever  his  changes 
may  have  been  on  some  points  of  Ro- 
man doctrine,  over  against  Protestant- 
ism, he  never  was  anything  but  an  un- 
compromising opponent.  This  man 
speaks  of  Luther  as  follows:  **He  has 
given  his  people  more  than  any  other 
man,  in  Christian  ages,  has  given  to  a 
people,  namely,  language,  manual  of 
public  instruction,  Bible,  and  hymns  of 
worship.  Even  those  Germans,  who  ab- 
horred him  as  the  powerful  heretic  and 


184  History  of  the 

seducer  of  the  nation,  cannot  escape  his 
influence.  They  mu^t  discourse  with 
his  words,  and  think  with  his  thoughts. 
To  have  shaped  one  of  the  chief  literary 
tongues  of  mankind  would  be  glory 
enough  for  a  less  able  man,  but  it  is  only 
one  of  the  lesser  jewels  in  Luther's 
crown. 

The  education  which  he  had  fostered 
slowly,  but  unmistakably,  did  its  work 
in  liberalizing  the  minds  of  his  people. 
The  result  was,  that  while  Germany,  for 
a  long  time  after  Luther  was  still  hope- 
lessly divided  politically,  and  at  times 
crushed  under  the  iron  heel  of  despot- 
ism, she  became  the  intellectual  leader 
of  Europe.  We  think  that  we  can,  with- 
out exaggeration,  refer  this  result  to 
Luther's  influence  more  than  to  any  oth- 
er factor.  The  Germans  have  idolized 
his  memory,  they  have  spoken  his  lan- 
guage, they  have  borrowed  from  his 
writings,  in  each  generation,  the  most 


Lutheran  Version  of  the  Bible.     185 


liberal  ideas  whicli  they  were  able  to 
grasp. ' ' 

D.  C.  MONROE. 

This  gentleman  is  professor  of  his- 
tory in  the  University  of  Pennsylvania, 
Philadelphia,  and  a  scholar  of  distin- 
guished ability.  He  says  of  Luther's 
Bible,  '^His  German  Bible  penetrated 
to  every  village,  almost  to  every  house- 
hold. It  was  expressed  in  homely  lan- 
guage, and  became  a  possession  of  the 
people.  It  is  wholly  impossible  to  esti- 
mate its  influence.  It  was  in  the  ver- 
nacular, so  that  it  was  possible  for  all  to 
understand  it.  By  the  agency  of  the 
printing  press  it  was  made  extremely 
cheap.  In  many  households,  it  was  the 
one  book  which  the  family  possessed. 
To  most  of  its  readers  and  hearers  it 
had  been  practically  unknown.  In  ad- 
dition to  supplying  their  religious 
needs,  it  opened  to  them  all  its  wealth 
of  story,  poetry,  and  imagery.    A  na- 


186  History  of  the 

tion  was  being  educated  from  the  Bi- 
ble." 

''J.i  Luther  had  contributed  nothing 
else,  his  service  to  literature  would  have 
been  great,  because  by  his  Bible  and 
other  writings  he  furnished  a  literary 
standard  and  the  language,  which  has 
become  the  literary  tongue  of  the  Ger- 
man people.  Scholars  in  his  day  wrote 
many  different  forms  of  German ;  today 
all  scholars  use  Luther's  German." 

PROFESSOR  HEDGE. 

This  man  is  by  religious  faith  a  Uni- 
tarian, and  by  this  very  far  removed 
from  Luther,  who  firmly  believed  in  a 
Divine  Trinity.  For  some  years  the 
gentleman  has  been  instructor  of  Ger- 
man in  Harvard  University.  He  says : 
*^The  modern  German  attained  its  fuD 
development  and  perfect  finish  in  Luth- 
er's version.  By  means  of  that  book 
it  obtained  a  currency  which  nothing 
else  could  have  given  it.     It  became 


Lutheran  Version  of  the  Bible.      187 

fixed ;  it  became  universal ;  it  became  the 
organ  of  literature,  which  more  than 
any  other  since  the  Greek  has  been  a 
literature  of  ideas.  It  became  the  ve- 
hicle of  modern  philosophy,  the  cradle 
of  those  thoughts  which  at  the  moment 
act  most  intensely  on  the  German 
mind/' 

F,  O.  IMES. 

A  scholar  and  writer  of  distinction, 
says;  '^The  absolute  simplicity  of  Lu- 
ther's Bible  brings  it  to  the  level  of  a 
child's  understanding.  Its  strength  and 
grace  give  it  an  enduring  place  as  a 
work  of  art.  Germany  instantly  felt  its 
charms,  and  for  three  centuries  it  has 
been  to  innumerable  millions  the  su- 
preme consoler  and  sanctifier,  the  power 
associated  with  their  tenderest,  most 
pathetic  memories,  the  old  link  which 
has  connected  sordid  lives  with  noble 
and  sublime  ideas.  And  for  the  first 
time  it  gave  the  nation  a  literary  Ian- 


188  History  of  the 

guage.  Up  to  this  stage  every  author 
had  written  in  the  dialect  with  which  he, 
himself,  was  familiar.  Henceforth  for 
the  men  of  Swabia,  of  Bavaria,  of  Sax- 
ony, and  all  other  districts,  there  was  a 
common  speech,  which  the  writers  of 
each  state  could  use  without  any  sense 
of  inferiority  to  those  of  another.  It 
is  thus  to  Luther  that  the  Germans  owe 
the  most  essential  of  all  the  conditions 
of  a  truly  national  life  and  literature." 

T«  M.  LINDSAY. 

A  Scotchman,  distinguished  as  a  his- 
torical writer,  and  the  author  of  a  bril- 
liant biography  of  Luther,  says  of  Lu- 
ther's Bible:  ^^ Luther's  aim  was  to  re- 
produce the  tone  and  spirit  of  the  orig- 
inal, as  far  as  he  possibly  could.  No 
fine,  courtly  words,  he  said  to  Spalatin, 
this  book  can  only  be  explained  in  a  sim- 
ple, popular  style.  It  must  be  under- 
stood by  the  house,  by  the  children  in 


Lutheran  Version  of  the  Bible .     189 

the  street,  and  by  the  common  man  in 
the  market.  By  choosing  the  Francon- 
ian  dialect  in  use  in  the  imperial  chan- 
cery, Luther  made  himself  intelligible 
to  those  whose  vernacular  dialect  was 
high  German  or  low  German,  and  his 
Bible  is  still  the  standard  of  the  Ger- 
man tongue  and  has  preserved  unity  of 
language,  literature  and  thought  of  the 
German  nation  during  its  political  dis- 
integration. ' ' 

JACOB  GRIMM. 

This  writer  is  one  of  the  prof oundest 
thinkers,  and  most  learned  philologists 
of  Germany.    He  says : 

^^ Luther's  language  must  be  consid- 
ered, both  on  account  of  its  noble  and 
almost  miraculous  purity,  and  its  great 
impressiveness,  as  the  germ  and  founda- 
tion of  modern  high-German  diction, 
but  slightly  departed  from  even  in  our 
day,  and  then,  in  most  cases,  to  the  loss 


190  History  of  the 

of  its  expressive  power.  The  modern 
high-German  may,  in  fact,  be  termed 
the  dialect  of  Protestantism,  and  the 
spirit  of  freedom  which  it  breathes  has 
long  since,  unknown  to  themselves,  cap- 
tivated the  writers  and  poets  of  the  Ro- 
man Church.  We  are  indebted  to  Lu- 
ther more  than  to  anyone  for  reviving 
and  fostering  the  body  and  spirit  of  our 
language,  and  even  for  the  beauties  of 
modern  German  poetry. ' ' 

HEINRICH  HEINE. 

Poet  and  philosopher,  says, ' '  Through 
Luther  we  have  attained  to  the  greatest 
religious  freedom.  But  this  Martin  Lu- 
ther gave  us  not  only  liberty  to  move, 
but  also  the  means  of  moving.  For  the 
spirit  he  gave  us  the  body.  He  created 
the  word  for  the  thought.  He  created 
the  German  language.  He  did  this  by 
his  translation  of  the  Bible.'' 


Lutheran  Version  of  the  Bible.      191 
WILIBALD  GRIMM, 

Doctor  of  Divinity,  Professor  of  the- 
ology, and  Consistorial  Counsellor  of 
Grand  Ducal  Saxony,  speaks  of  Luther 
in  this  wise:  ''All  barriers,  erected  by 
the  Roman  Hierarchy,  were  swept  away 
by  the  storm  floods  of  the  Reformation. 
From  thenceforth  no  power  on  earth, 
political  or  ecclesiastical,  was  able  to  re- 
press the  demand  for  the  Bible  in  the 
language  of  the  people.  In  Germany 
there  was  no  man  better  qualified  for 
the  work  of  translation  of  the  Scrip- 
tures into  the  vernacular  than  was  Dr. 
Martin  Luther— Luther,  whom,  without 
hesitation,  we  may  pronounce  the  great- 
est German,  an  incarnation  of  the  na- 
tional German  spirit  in  its  fullest  and 
deepest  feeling— Luther,  the  unconquer- 
able faith-hero  who,  amid  the  severest 
struggles  of  heart  and  conscience,  had 
sought  and  found  peace  of  soul  in  the 
Holy  Scriptures— Luther  who  was  pen- 
etrated to  his  inmost  depth  of  soul  with 


192  Bistory  of  the 

their  religious  spirit,  and  who,  in  spite 
of  the  want  of  good  grammars  and  lex- 
icons, had  attained  to  a  very  respectable 
knowledge  of  the  three  ancient  lan- 
guages, which  came  into  requisition  in 
the  work  of  reproducing  in  the  German 
language  the  Scriptures  in  their  orig- 
inal sense  and  spirit;  wherefore  his 
translation  may  be  said  to  be  inspired, 
provided  we  understand  the  term  in- 
spiration in  the  only  sense  sanctioned  by 
right  and  reason. ' ' 

Numberless  testimonials  to  the  same 
effect  might  be  produced  from  the  best 
authoritative  sources ;  but  let  the  above 
suffice. 


CHAPTER  Xn. 


THE  ENGLISH  VERSION. 

In  setting  out  to  write  the  history  of 
the  Lutheran  Version  of  the  Scriptures, 
it  was  not  our  purpose  to  treat  of  the 
English  version,  but  on  further  reflec- 
tion, in  view  of  the  fact  that  there  is  an 
intimate  connection  between  the  Ger- 
man and  the  English  versions,  and  re- 
membering further  that  the  readers  of 
this  book  are  also  readers  of  the  English 
Bible,  we  concluded  to  devote  a  chapter 
also  to  the  history  of  the  latter. 

THE  PRIMITIVE  ENGLISH  VERSIONS. 

As  far  back  as  we  can  trace  the  En- 
glish language,  we  can  find  evidences  of 
the  existence  of  translations  of  parts  of 
the  Scriptures.  Caedmon,  who  died  A, 
D.  680,  made  metrical  versions  from 

18  (193) 


194  History  of  the 

several  parts  of  the  Old  and  of  the  New 
Testament,  based  upon  translations 
then  existing.  Eadfrith,  who  died  A. 
D.  721,  translated  most  of  the  books  of 
the  Bible  into  the  vernacular.  In  the 
tenth  century  there  were  in  circulation 
a  translation  of  the  first  seven  books  of 
the  Bible,  made  by  Aelfric,  and  transla- 
tions of  the  books  of  Kings,  Esther,  Job, 
Judith,  the  Maccabees,  and  of  the  four 
Gospels,  which  were  probably  by  the 
same  pen. 

That  a  number  of  such  translations 
were  made,  and  that  they  had  a  compar- 
atively wide  circulation,  is  inferred 
from  the  statement  of  Archbishop 
Cranmer  in  his  preface  to  the  author- 
ized version  of  1540.  He  says  that  ^Hhe 
Holy  Bible  was  translated  and  read  in 
the  Saxon's  tongue  which  was  at  that 
time  our  mother's  tongue,"  many  hun- 
dred years  before  the  date  at  which  he 
was  writing,  *^  whereof  there  remaineth 
yet  divers  copies,  found  in  old  abbeys, 


Lutheran  Version  of  the  Bible.     195 

of  such  antique  manner  of  writing  and 
speaking  that  few  men  have  been  able 
to  read  and  understand  them.  And 
when  this  language  waxed  old  and  out 
of  common  usage,  because  folk  should 
not  lack  fruit  of  reading,  it  was  again 
translated  into  the  newer  language, 
whereof  yet  also  many  copies  remain 
and  be  daily  found."  Sir  Thomas 
Moore  wrote  that  long  before  Wy cliff e's 
days,  ^Hhe  whole  Bible  was  by  virtuous 
and  well  learned  men,  translated  into 
the  English  tongue,  and  by  good  and 
godly  people  with  devotion  and  sober- 
ness, well  and  reverently  read."  Foxe, 
the  Martyrologist,  says:  ^^If  histories 
be  well  examined,  we  shall  find  both  be- 
fore the  Conquest  and  after,  as  well  be- 
fore John  Wycliffe  was  born,  as  since, 
the  whole  body  of  the  Scriptures  by  sun- 
dry men  translated  into  our  country 
tongue. ' '  These  translations  were  made 
from  the  Vulgate,  and  were  very  defec- 
tive.   They  were  exceedingly  free  ren- 


196  History  of  the 

derings,  but  with  all  their  imperfec- 
tions they  accomplished  much  good. 
They  enabled  the  plain  people  of  the 
time  to  acquire  some  knowledge,  at  least, 
of  the  saving  word  of  God  and  of  the 
way  to  heaven. 

Of  the  many  versions  made,  only  a 
few  fragments  have  come  down  to  our 
time.  They  perished  in  the  vast  and 
ruthless  destruction  of  libraries  that 
took  place  a  few  years  after  Cranmer 
wrote.  The  libraries  of  London,  of  the 
University  of  Oxford,  and  many  others 
entirely  disappeared,  and  with  them 
many  invaluable  literary  treasures. 

THE  MODERN  VERSIONS, 

John  Wyclifte,  1324-1384,  the  well- 
known  reformer  brought  out  a  complete 
copy  of  the  Bible  in  the  English  tongue, 
in  1382.  This  was  a  great  event  for  the 
English  people.  It  gave  them  what  few 
other  nations  had,  the  Bible  in  their  own 


John  Wycliffe. 


Lutheran  Version  of  the  Bible.     197 

native  tongue.  Wycliffe  understanding 
neither  Hebrew  nor  Greek,  made  his 
translation  from  the  Latin  Vulgate. 
This  version  had  by  this  time  become 
corrupted  and  Wy cliff e  's  work  partakes 
of  all  its  faults.  But  it  proved  itself  a 
great  blessing  nevertheless.  It  started 
thought,  inquiry,  and  promoted  intelli- 
gence, morality  and  religion. 

The  higher  clergy,  however,  opposed 
its  circulation.  They  forbade  its  use. 
Its  readers  were  persecuted  and  se- 
verely punished.  Still  the  people  read 
it.  During  the  war  of  the  Roses  it 
fell  into  disuse,  and  thereafter  its  in- 
terests never  again  revived.  Some  170 
copies  survive.  It  was  not  printed 
until  in  the  nineteenth  century,  having 
circulated  only  in  manuscript. 

William  Tyndale  was  the  man  who 
furnished  the  next  version  of  the  Bible 
for  England.  He  was  born  about  1484, 
one  year  after  Luther,  in  England,  on 
the  confines  of  Wales.     When  yet  a 


198  History  of  the 

mere  boy  lie  was  sent  to  Oxford  to  Col- 
lege, where  lie  remained  for  some  years 
engaged  in  diligent  study.  From  here 
he  went  to  Cambridge  where  he  had  su- 
perior facilities  for  the  study  of  Greek 
and  probably  also  Hebrew.  These  lan- 
guages he  studied  with  the  sole  purpose 
of  using  them  to  acquire  a  thorough 
knowledge  of  the  Holy  Scriptures.  For 
even  from  a  child  he  had  loved  God's 
Word,  and  during  all  his  life  he  gave 
himself  to  its  study.  In  1519,  at  the  age 
of  thirty-five,  he  went  to  live  with  Sir 
John  Welsh,  a  wealthy  country  gentle- 
man, who  employed  him  as  tutor  to  his 
children.  At  the  same  time  he  preached 
whenever  an  opportunity  offered  itself. 
He  proclaimed  the  Gospel  in  its  purity 
and  severely  denounced  the  errors  and 
corruptions  of  the  Roman  Church.  By 
this  course  he  drew  upon  himself  the  en- 
mity and  opposition  of  the  Roman 
priesthood.  His  position  thereby  be- 
coming  ever  more  uncomfortable,   he 


Lutheran  Version  of  the  Bible.     199 

concluded  to  transfer  his  residence  to 
London,  where  he  intended  to  devote 
himself  to  the  translation  of  the  Scrip- 
tures. Of  this  step  he  speaks  later  and 
says :  ^*I  perceived  how  that  it  was  im- 
possible to  establish  the  lay  people  in 
any  truth  except  the  Scriptures  were 
plainly  laid  before  their  eyes  in  their 
mother  tongue.  For  else  whatever 
truth  is  taught  them,  these  enemies  of 
all  truth  quench  it  again  by  their  sophis- 
try and  by  their  misinterpretation  of 
the  Scriptures."  It  was  in  1523,  at  the 
age  of  thirty-nine,  that  he  went  on  his 
way  to  London,  where  he  expected  to  be 
encouraged  and  aided  by  the  Bishop 
who  resided  there,  Tonstall,  but  in  this 
he  was  bitterly  disappointed.  Tonstall 
turned  him  away  coldly.  The  English 
Bible  was  not  to  be  translated  in  a  Bish- 
op's  Palace.  But  Tyndale  found  a 
friend  in  Humphrey  Monmouth,^  a 
wealthy  London  merchant,  who  provid- 
ed for  him  in  his  own  house.  Here  again 


200  History  of  the 

his  enemies  assailed  and  persecuted 
him,  and  he  discovered  that  En- 
gland was  not  the  country  where  he 
could  successfully  prosecute  his  work. 
He  therefore  decided  to  go  to  Germany. 
He  left  London  in  May  1524  and  soon 
after  landed  in  Hamburg.  From  Ham- 
burg he  journeyed  to  Wittenberg, 
where,  it  seems,  he  spent  one  whole  year, 
during  which  time  he  translated  the  en- 
tire New  Testament.  Here  he  consulted 
Luther's  translation  and  doubtless  Lu- 
ther himself,  and  was  largely  influenced 
by  both.  He  copied  Luther's  prologues, 
and  his  marginal  notes,  as  well  as  many 
portions  of  his  New  Testament.  This 
fact  has  sometimes  been  denied,  but  it 
is  confirmed  by  the  best  and  most  re- 
liable authorities.  His  contemporaries 
unanimously  testify  that  he  got  himself 
straight  to  Luther  at  Wittenberg. 
Whether  he  was  in  any  way  assisted  by 
Luther  is  a  disputed  point,  and  there  is 
no  historical  evidence  that  there  was 


Lutheran  Version  of  the  Bible.     201 

any  intercourse  between  them.  It  would 
be  very  strange,  however,  if  during  his 
year's  residence  in  Wittenberg,  and  en- 
gaged in  the  same  great  cause,  Tyndale 
and  Luther  did  not  meet,  confer  and 
co-operate  in  the  work  of  translation. 
As  T}Tidale's  work  later  became  the 
basis  of  the  authorized  version  of  1611, 
the  Bible  which  we  read  at  the  present 
day,  it  is  an  evident  fact  that  Luther 
is  not  only  the  author  of  the  German 
version,  but  that  he  has  also  contributed 
a  large  share  to  the  formation  of  the 
standard  English  version. 

Demaus  m  his  life  of  Tyndale  has 
this:  ^^In  comparing  the  quarto  of 
Tyndale 's  Testament  of  1525  with 
Luther's  1522,  the  resemblance  in  re- 
spect of  printing  is  remarkable.  The 
appearance  of  the  page  is  the  same,  the 
arrangement  of  the  text  is  the  same,  and 
the  references  in  the  margin  are  also  the 
sam.e,  and,  what  is  more  important  to 
be  noticed,  the  marginal  notes  intro- 


202  History  of  the 

duced  in  the  quarto  edition,  are  to  a 
large  extent  translations  from  those  of 
Luther.'^ 

We  cannot  pursue  this  subject  any 
further  in  this  connection.  That  would 
carry  us  too  far  from  the  purpose  and 
plan  with  which  we  entered  upon  our 
present  labor.  The  reader  who  is  inter- 
ested in  this  special  point  is  directed  to 
^* The  Lutheran  Movement  in  England'', 
a  scholarly  work  by  H.  E.  Jacobs,  D.  D., 
LL.  D.,  where  the  subject  is  fully  and 
impartially  treated. 

From  Wittenberg  Tyndale  in  1525  re- 
turned to  Hamburg,  where  resided 
wealthy  English  merchants,  who  be- 
friended and  aided  him,  and  from  whom 
he  may  have  received  on  this  visit  the 
means  to  defray  the  expenses  of  the 
publication  of  his  translation.  At  all 
events,  he  went  direct  from  Hamburg  to 
Cologne  where  he  found  publishers  with 
whom  he  entered  into  contract  to  do  his 
printing.      All    progressed    favorably. 


Lutheran  Version  of  the  Bible.     203 

when  Cochleus,  that  savage  persecutor 
of  the  Eeformers,  arrived  in  Cologne 
and  discovered  what  was  being  done  to 
supply  England  with  the  Scriptures. 
He  informed  the  ecclesiastical  authori- 
ties in  England  of  his  discovery,  and 
through  the  efforts  of  their  emissaries 
Tyndale's  printed  copies  were  confis- 
cated. Tyndale,  however,  had  learned 
in  good  time  the  secret  machinations, 
and  had  saved  the  larger  portion  of  the 
printed  sheets,  with  which  he  fled  up  the 
Ehine  and  landed  in  Worms,  a  Luther- 
an city,  where  he  could  prosecute  his  la- 
bors in  safety  and  peace.  Here  he  fin- 
ished the  work  begun  in  Cologne,  and  is- 
sued a  second  and  improved  edition  of 
his  New  Testament.  Followed  and 
watched  by  his  enemies  wherever  he 
went,  he  nevertheless  escaped  their  vig- 
ilance, and  succeeded  in  importing 
many  thousand  copies  of  his  New  Testa- 
ment into  England,  where  they  were 
eagerly  bought  and  extensively  circu- 
lated. 


204  History  of  the 

To  be  within  a  convenient  distance 
from  England  in  order  to  superintend 
more  successfully  the  shipping  and  sale 
of  his  book,  he  went  from  Worms  to 
Antwerp.  Here  he  was  residing  when, 
in  1535,  the  intelligence  reached  him 
that  the  Kmg  of  England  had  severed 
his  connection  with  Rome,  and  was  fa- 
voring the  Reformation.  Hitherto  he 
had  passed  under  an  assumed  name,  and 
thereby  had  insured  his  personal  safety. 
On  receiving  the  above  news  he  imag- 
ined all  danger  passed,  and  resumed  his 
proper  name.  This  led  to  his  discovery, 
his  betrayal,  his  arrest,  and  his  impris- 
onment. From  1535  to  1536  he  was  in- 
carcerated in  the  castle  of  Vilvorden 
near  Antwerp,  where  in  the  latter  year 
he  was  strangled  and  his  dead  body  was 
reduced  to  ashes.  He  had  reached  his 
fifty-second  year.  Faithful  to  the  last, 
never  doubting  his  mission,  not  waver- 
ing in  what  he  conceived  to  be  his  duty, 
T}nadale  died  the  death  of  a  martyr  in 


V    ^-C0»w-^ 


Lutheran  Version  of  the  Bible.     206 

one  of  the  holiest  causes  to  which  he 
could  have  devoted  his  life.  His  name 
will  live  and  his  influence  will  be  felt 
as  long  as  time  lasts.  Nor  was  his  tragic 
end  to  him  an  unexpected  event.  Long 
ere  it  occurred  he  wrote  to  a  friend: 
' '  They  may  burn  my  books  and  me  too, 
as  they  no  doubt  will.''  He  died  with  a 
prayer  for  his  enemies  upon  his  lips. 
The  crime  of  his  murder  must  be  laid 
at  the  door  of  the  English  prelates,  es- 
pecially to  that  of  Bishop  Tonstall,  his 
most  unrelenting  enemy,  and  to  that  of 
the  emperor,  Charles  Y. 

In  Germany  Luther's  translation  at 
once  became  the  standard  version  and 
has  ever  since  remained  so.  The  course 
of  events  was  far  different  from  this  in 
England.  Here  there  was  a  succession 
of  versions,  no  less  than  nine  in  number, 
before  the  nation  settled  upon  one  of 
them  as  of  supreme  authority.  They 
are : 


206  History  of  the 

1.  The  Wycli:ffe  Bible .....  1382 

2.  The  Tyndale  Bible 1525 

3.  The  Coverdale  Bible ....  1535 

4.  The  Matthews  Bible ....  1537 

5.  The  Tavener  Bible 1539 

6.  The  Great  Bible 1539 

7.  The  Genevan  Bible 1560 

8.  The  Bishop's  Bible 1568 

9.  The  Standard  Bible. . . .  1611 

U    THE  WYCLIFFE  BIBLE. 

The  Wycliffe  version  had  no  succes- 
sor as  had  subsequent  versions.  No  one 
ever  attempted  to  thoroughly  revise  and 
improve  it.  It  passed  on  down  the  years 
unchanged,  both  in  form  and  in  sub- 
stance. At  last  but  few  copies  of  it  re- 
mained, and  these  were  neglected  and 
forgotten.  The  Reformation  drew  it 
forth  again  from  its  hiding  place.  Tyn- 
dale got  possession  of  it,  consulted  it, 
and  copied  from  it  extensively. 
Through  his  translation  many  words 
and  phrases,  which  Wycliffe  had  orig- 


Lutheran  Version  of  the  Bible.     207 

inated,  have  passed  into  the  authorized 
version,  where  they  remain  to  this  day, 
and  in  which  the  Reformer  still  speaks 
to  US.  Wycliffe,  like  Luther,  enriched 
and  improved  his  native  tongue,  by  his 
translation,  and  in  these  additions  he 
still  lives  and  speaks.  His  labors  were 
not  spent  in  vain,  though  they  seemed 
so  for  a  time.  They  have  borne  rich 
and  lasting  fruit.  England  owes  Wy- 
cliffe  no  small  debt.  His  memory  should 
ever  be  cherished  by  Englishmen  with 
reverence  and  love. 

2.    THE  TYNDALE  BIBLE. 

Tyndale's  translation  includes  the 
whole  of  the  New  Testament  and  the 
Pentateuch  and  the  Book  of  Jonah  of 
the  Old  Testament.  These  were  the 
parts  he  published.  He  also  translated 
from  Joshua  to  II  Chronicles,  probably 
after  he  had  published  the  former.  This 
latter  portion  remained  in  manuscript, 
and  after  his  death,  passed  into  other 


208  History  of  the 

hands.  His  translation  was  faithfully 
and  carefully  made  from  the  original 
Hebrew  and  Greek,  but  not  without  the 
assistance  of  tha  Vulgate,  the  Wycliif  e, 
the  Lutheran  and  other  versions.  To 
the  prologues  and  glosses,  which  he  had 
copied  from  Luther,  he  added  some  of 
his  own.  The  latter  being  severely 
polemic,  gave  offense  to  the  priesthood 
of  England. 

Tyndale's  Bible  formed  the  basis  of 
all  subsequent  editions.  The  American 
Standard  edition  avows  in  one  of  the 
prefaces,  that  the  foundation  of  the 
New  Testament  Version  was  laid  by 
William  Tyndale.  The  Rev.  C.  Hamil- 
ton Beard  says  of  it :  "  The  influence  of 
Tyndale 's  work  on  our  standard  En- 
glish Version  can  scarcely  be  exagger- 
ated. Respecting  that  part  of  the  Bible 
which  he  translated  it  has  been  esti- 
mated that  no  less  than  80%  of  his  trans- 
lations has  been  retained  in  the  Old  Tes- 


Lutheran  Version  of  the  Bihie.     209 

tament,  and  90%  in  the  New.''  The  au- 
thors of  the  English  revised  New  Testa- 
ment of  1881  say  of  the  authorized  ver- 
sion of  1611:  *^The  foundation  was 
laid  by  William  Tyndale.  His  transla- 
tion of  the  New  Testament  was  the  true 
primary  version.  The  versions  that  fol- 
lowed were  either  substantial  reproduc- 
tions of  Tyndale 's  in  its  final  shape,  or 
revisions  of  versions  that  had  been 
themselves  almost  entirely  based  upon 
it.''  Dr.  Jacobs  sa^^s  that  the  latest  ver- 
sion of  the  Bible  is  but  a  revision  of 
Tyndale 's  translation. 

Readers  of  the  English  Bible  owe  an 
inestimable  debt  to  Tyndale,  and  secon- 
darily, through  him  to  Luther. 

3.    THE  COVERDALE  BIBLE. 

Tyndale  had  intended  to  translate 
the  entire  Bible,  but  did  not  live  long 
enough  to  accomplish  his  cherished  ob- 
ject.    Miles  Coverdale,  an  Augustinian 

14 


210  History  of  the 

Monk  and  a  pretty  fair  scholar,  com- 
pleted what  Tyndale  had  left  incom- 
plete. The  parts  he  supplied  he  trans- 
lated, not  from  the  original  languages, 
but  from  the  Vulgate,  and  from  Luth- 
er's German.  No  special  importance 
attaches  to  his  version,  imless  it  be  that 
he  gave  to  England  the  first  complete 
Bible  of  the  16th  century.  He  was  the 
author  of  many  words  and  phrases  of 
lasting  worth. 

4.    THE  THOMAS  MATTHEWS  BIBLE. 

This  Bible  was  a  compilation  of  Tyn- 
dale's  and  Coverdale's  translations.  It 
was  edited  and  published  by  John  Rog- 
ers under  the  name  of  the  Thomas  Mat- 
thews Bible.  Rogers  was  a  graduate  of 
Cambridge  and  an  ordained  clergj^man. 
He  had  been  a  friend  of  Tyndale,  and 
with  him  Tyndale  had  left  his  unpub- 
lished manuscript  translations  from  the 
Hebrew   of  the   Old   Testament  from 


Lutheran  Yersion  of  the  Bihle.     211 

Joshua  to  II  Chronicles.  With  this  and 
Tyndale's  Pentateuch  and  his  New 
Testament,  and  Coverdale's  translation, 
Kogers  formed  the  Matthews  Bible.  He 
made  no  translation  himself.  His  work 
w^as  that  of  an  editor  onlv.  His  Bible 
had  the  distinction  that  it  had  the  en- 
dorsement of  the  king,  who  before  this 
had  been  opposed  to  the  translation  and 
reading  of  the  Scriptures  in  the  ver- 
nacular. 

5.    THE  GREAT  BIBLE. 

This  was  simply  a  revision  of  the 
Matthews  Bible,  with  a  fev/  additions 
from  the  Latin  Vulgate.  It  received  its 
name  from  its  size,  being  a  large  folio, 
and  was  designed  chiefly  for  pulpit  use. 
It  has  also  been  called  the  Cranmer 
Bible,  but  the  only  agency  that  Cran- 
mer had  in  the  making  of  it  was  that  he 
favored  its  publication,  and  wrote  for  it 
an  introduction. 


212  History  of  the 

6.    TAVERNER'S  BIBLE, 

This  edition  was  the  work  of  Richard 
Taverner,  a  layman,  lawyer,  and  a  good 
Greek  scholar,  but  no  Hebraist.  His 
Vv^ork  was  a  mere  revision  of  the  pre- 
ceding versions.  A  few  changes  made 
in  the  New  Testament  became  perma- 
nent. Taverner  made  himself  to  be  re- 
membered by  Lutherans,  through  his 
translation  of  the  Augsburg  Confession, 
vfhich  was  the  earliest  copj^  of  it  in  the 
English  tongue. 

7.    THE  GENS  VAN  BIBLE, 

This  name  was  given  to  this  version 
for  the  reason  that  it  was  executed  and 
published  in  Geneva,  Switzerland.  Its 
authors  were  men  who  had  fled  from 
England  during  the  reign  of  Queen 
Mary,  the  bloody  persecutor  of  Protes- 
tants, and  had  found  an  asylum  in  this 
city.  It  was  a  revision  of  previous  ver- 
sions, and  issued  in  1560.    Having  been 


Lutheran  Version  of  the  Bihle.     213 

framed  under  the  eyes  and  by  the  as- 
sistance of  Calvin,  it  partook  of  tlie  pe- 
culiar views  of  that  reformer.  Its  mar- 
ginal notes  were  strongly  Calvinistic  in 
tone  and  substance,  and  some  of  its 
translations  gave  ground  for  the  charge 
of  Roman  Catholic  critics  ''that  English 
Protestants  corrupted  the  text  for  dog- 
matic ends.'' 

The  Genevan  Bible  bears  evidence  of 
sound  scholarship,  though  not  v/ithout 
faults.  It  enjoyed  a  popularity  which 
lasted  for  many  decades,  even  beyond 
the  time  of  the  King  James  translation 
of  1611. 

8.    THE  BISHOP'S  BIBLE. 

This  was  the  last  of  the  Bibles  of  the 
16th  century.  It  made  its  appearance 
in  1568.  It  was  the  work  of  Anglican 
Bishops.  Its  basis  was  ''The  Great  Bi- 
ble. ' '  Marginal  notes  of  a  controversial 
character  were  excluded.  Owing  to  its 
ornate  and  artificial  style,  it  was  never 


214  History  of  the 

popular,  although  it  had  the  sanctiou  of 

the  h 

state. 


the  highest  authorities  in  church  and 


9.    THE  AUTHORIZED  VERSION. 

This  was  undertaken  in  1604  under 
the  order  of  King  James  I,  and  executed 
under  the  supervision  of  the  An- 
glican Bishops.  Like  those  preceding 
and  those  following  it,  it  was  a  revised 
version.  Unlike  the  Lutheran  Version 
it  was  the  work  of  many  minds.  Fifty- 
two  theologians  were  employed  on  it, 
chosen  for  the  purpose  by  King  James. 
They  divided  into  six  companies.  Each 
company  had  a  part  assigned  to  it,  and 
each  member  of  that  company  trans- 
lated that  part.  When  done  they  com- 
pared and  corrected  the  result  of  their 
labor.  After  this  each  company's  w^ork 
was  submitted  to  a  representative  com- 
mittee for  final  correction  and  decision. 
Thus  w^e  see,  very  great  care  was  taken 
to  produce  an  accurate  translation. 


Lutheran  Version  of  the  Bible.     215 

These  translators  were  men  of  the 
best  scholarship,  and  of  sound  judg- 
ment. They  labored  with  painstaking 
industry,  and  with  upright  purpose,  for 
nearly  three  years,  and  published  their 
work  in  1611.  While  not  faultless,  it 
has  been  pronounced  by  friend  and  foe, 
*^as  the  finest  specimen  of  our  prose  lit- 
erature at  a  time  when  English  prose 
wore  its  stateliest  and  most  majestic 
form.''  Though  stately  and  majestic,  it 
is  a  work  of  great  simplicity.  Ninety 
per  cent,  of  its  words  are  Saxon.  For 
three  hundred  years  it  has  continued 
the  Bible  of  the  English  speaking  peo- 
ple and  is  yet  in  use  throughout  the  wide 
world  where  our  language  is  known  and, 
spoken. 

JO.    THE  REVISED  VERSION  OF  ENGLAND. 

The  Authorized  Version  of  1611  gave 
general  satisfaction.  For  a  long  time 
no  demand  for  a  new  and  improved  Bi- 
ble was  heard.     Meantime  many  and 


216  History  of  The 

great  changes  took  place.  The  English 
language  underwent  changes.  Words 
changed  their  meaning.  Some  words 
became  obsolete  and  dropped  entirely 
out  of  the  vocabulary.  New  words  came 
into  use.  The  discovery  was  made  that 
some  passages  had  been  incorrectly  ren- 
dered; others  were  awkward  and  un- 
granmiatical.  Additional  manuscripts 
of  the  Greek  text  had  been  discovered, 
giving  new  light.  The  science  of  textual 
criticism  had  come  into  being.  Ancient 
geography  had  been  studied  and  was 
better  understood ;  the  countries  and  lo- 
calities mentioned  in  the  Bible  had  been 
visited  and  explored;  cities  and  build- 
ings long  buried  had  been  rediscovered ; 
ancient  inscriptions  had  been  deciph- 
ered and  translated.  Volumes  of  light 
had  been  thus  thrown  upon  the  sacred 
record  since  1611,  and  it  was  felt  that 
the  whole  version  needed  a  thorough  re- 
vision. Accordingly  in  1870  a  commit- 
tee of  revision  was  chosen  in  England 


Lutheran  Version  of  the  Bible.     217 

to  perform  this  labor.  To  this  there 
was  added  a  committee  of  American 
scholars.  These  two  parties  co-operated 
harmoniously,  and  as  a  result  of  their 
labor  they  published  in  1881,  a  revised 
New  Testament,  and  in  1885  a  revised 
Old  Testament,  the  two  constituting  the 
Revised  Bible  of  England.  The  latter 
is  not  entireh'  faultless,  nor  is  it  as  com- 
plete as  it  could  have  been  made.  The 
translators  acted  with  great  caution, 
making  fewer  corrections  than  their 
own  judgment  approved,  fearing  to  of- 
fend the  English  people,  whose  con- 
servatism is  averse  to  Bible  changes. 
Still  it  is  difficult  to  conceive  how  any 
fair-minded  and  intelligent  person  can 
fail  to  recognize  the  vast  superiority  of 
the  English  Revised  Version  over  all 
others  that  have  gone  before. 

n.    THE  REVISED  VERSION  OF  AMERICA. 

This  is  not  a  distinctive  revision,  but 
merely  a  recension  or  improvement  of 


218  History  of  The 

the  Revised  Version  of  England.  It  has 
changed  obsolete  for  modern  and  intelli- 
gible words,  which  the  English  Version 
left  untouched.  Of  this  the  following 
are  samples.  Minish,  it  has  rendered 
into  diminish,  chapter,  into  capital, 
couches  into  sittings ;  straitness  into  dis- 
tress, chapmen  into  traders,  wot  and 
wist  into  know,  poll  thee  into  cut  off 
thy  hair,  delicates  into  delicacies,  charg- 
er into  platter,  cunnmg  into  skill,  let 
into  hinder,  and  reins  into  heart.  There 
are  a  few  words  in  the  Old  Testament 
which  to  modern  ears  are  indelicate  and 
offensive,  which  have  been  left  un- 
changed in  the  English  Revision,  as  e. 
g.,  bowels  standing  for  the  affections, 
has  been  changed  mto  heart.  Numerous 
other  changes  have  been  made,  in  all  of 
which  the  American  version  is  a  vast 
improvement  on  the  English.  There  re- 
mains not  the  least  doubt  of  the  Ameri- 
can Recension  of  1901  coming  nearer  to 
the  original,  being  clearer  in  its  expres- 


Lutheran  Version  of  the  Bible.     219 

sion  and  phraseology,  more  readable 
and  refined  than  any  version  heretofore 
made,  or  any  version  now  existing  in 
the  world. 

People  will  do  well  to  overcome  their 
prejudi(?es  in  favor  of  the  old  Bible  of 
1611  and  when  ready  to  purchase  a  new 
copy,  secure  one  of  the  Revised  Version 
of  1901. 

„®oik^  aBort  unb  Sutl^er^  Sel^r 
Serge^en  nun  unb  nimmerme^r." 


DATE  DUE 

^WMViBPr 

»  n  n      

WMfm' 

..jsssmnmagi 

wr. 

SEP 

I  5  m(y 

> 

^CT  1 

0  1996 

u&rtf 

n    * 

GAYLORD 

PRINTED  IN  USA. 

